


The Dawn Will Come

by Zekeboy98



Series: The Inquisitor Saga [7]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 47,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26811334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zekeboy98/pseuds/Zekeboy98
Summary: Aurora “Dawn” Trevelyan, the eldest mage child of Bann and Lady Trevelyan and the long lost sister of Inquisitor Leonardo Trevelyan returns home after the Circles are officially disbanded and confronts her father about her youngest brother. Eager to meet and develop a relationship with her brother, she takes the long journey to Skyhold where she encounters both physical threats and emotional challenges.
Series: The Inquisitor Saga [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1489745
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Artwork by the-upper-shelf on Tumblr

Stars flickered and crickets chirped throughout the serene night. It was nice not having to look up at the sky and see a giant, gaping hole into another plane of existence looming over everyone’s head. No, that time had passed and in the following months, the world had only known tranquility, to some extent. Castle Trevelyan in Ostwick appeared to be winding down in activity and the night guards began taking up their positions.

“There hasn’t been that much going on lately.” one of the guards noted.

“Yeah, I remembered many months ago, there were many assassination attempts on Bann Trevelyan’s life because of the Inquisitor being his youngest son.” the other guard remarked.

“I guess the Inquisitor showed them eh?” the guard said, giving a brief laugh.

“Yeah, I guess he...he.”

“Hey what’s going on?” the guard asked.

“Nothing, I just suddenly feel very...tired.”

The other guard immediately fell on his back and was fast asleep.

“C’mon, you have to wake up.” the guard stated, shaking the sleeping guard. “If the Captain finds out… he’ll… he’ll.”.

Within seconds, the other guard also fell into a deep sleep.

Moments later, rustling could be heard coming from the climbing of vines. An assailant dressed in all black and wearing a black scarf that all but covered their hazel colored eyes approached the guards and searched them. On one of them, the assailant found a pair of keys and looked around the castle to see which possible door these keys could open.

“There.” the assailant thought as they spotted a wooden door across the current ramparts they were on.

As they quickly, but silently ran, the assailant held close to the long, steel staff they held on their back. Once the assailant reached the door, they rapidly shuffled through the several keys and completed an algorithm of trying all the keys until one of them finally unlocked the door.

“Yes.” the assailant quietly cheered to themself.

The assailant tried their best to open the old and creaky door as quietly as they could and once they were inside the castle, they took a breather.

“Just as I remember it.” the assailant sighed. “This place hasn’t changed a bit.”.

The assailant then jumped once they spotted a light approaching from a corner.

“Let’s hope the rooms are the same too.” the assailant said as they ran down the hall opposite to the light.

The assailant didn’t realize how loud their footsteps would be running down the dead hallway and they cursed themselves for calling the attention of the guards around the surrounding halls.

“Right, left, right.” the assailant repeated to themselves as they traveled the halls. 

Once or twice did they have to stop and stay still as suspicious guards powered through the hallways. The assailant remembered the layout of the castle better than they initially thought because they managed to reach their destination with minimal errors. The room’s door was slightly opened, enough for the assailant to go inside without causing a stir on the outside. Before going inside the room, the assailant took a huge breath and slid inside the room and began looking around. Near the edge of the room was a huge desk stacked with papers and a middle aged man writing. The assailant was surprised that the man didn’t notice them, but this was indeed the person they were looking for and anger was stirred within their eyes. The man looked exactly the same as he did 26 years ago besides the gray hairs and receding hairline. Grabbing the knob of the door, they shut it with anger, the noise catching the attention of the man. The man stood from their desk and though he didn’t visibly show any panic, the assailant could feel the fear inside him.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” the man questioned.

The assailant laughed as they slowly began unwrapping the scarf from their face, dark brown locs of hair falling out.

“Oh, you don’t remember do you?” the assailant said.

Finally the scarf hung low from the assailant’s neck and revealed their entire face .

“I don’t blame you. After all, you stopped visiting years ago.”.

“...Aurora?” the man questioned in shock.

“Yes, it’s me father.” the assailant assured. 

**“And you** **_know_ ** **why I’m here. The Inquisitor, the mighty savior of Thedas, the Herald of Andraste, the younger brother that I never knew about.”.**


	2. Chapter 2

“You’ve grown so much since we’ve last seen each other.” Bann Trevelyan sighed. “You look so much like your mother.”.

“Don’t even dare speak about mother!” Aurora shot back, loud enough for her father to notice her anger, but quiet enough for the guards not to hear.

It was true, she did look nearly identical to her mother. Aurora and her mother shared many traits from the long locs of hair and facial structure to her stature and dark colored eyes. Her eyes however weren’t as kind as her mother’s due to 26 years of templar oppression and denial from her father and siblings entirely.

“I need to know.” she spoke up in a calmer voice. “What happened to Aaron and Elaina? I had heard rumors…”

“Yes, they are with the Maker now.” Bann Trevelyan solemnly answered.

Aurora turned away trying her best to avoid her father’s gaze as she quietly cried to herself. The last time she had seen Aaron and Elaina was when they were but children, seven and five years old respectively. They were sweet, obedient children she last remembered, always spending time with their father as he prepared them for their careers in the Chantry. 

When she finally wiped her tears away, she stared back at her father with red flushed eyes.

“What can you tell me about my youngest brother, Leonardo?” Aurora asked. “Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

Bann Trevelyan placed both of his hands on the desk before him and tried lifting himself to his feet. Aurora watched the old man struggle, but she expressed no interest in helping him which he couldn’t blame. Once he finally stood on his feet, he walked towards his window overlooking the castle gardens and sighed.

“Your brother was groomed to become a templar as the youngest.” he started. “He actually reminds me of you during your younger days, latched to your mother’s side like a cub.”

Aurora smiled at that, though did her best to make sure her father didn’t see it.

“The following years after your mother passed and once he entered his young adult years, I put him into Templar official training after years of simply learning. For the first couple years he seemed very interested in the Templar life, but his trainers told me that his heart was too good. Not strong enough to watch after mages...eventually a year before the Conclave, we got into a huge fight about his path as a Templar and he eventually ran away. It wasn’t until the tragedy of the Conclave that I finally discovered where he was.”.

“That still doesn’t explain why you never told either one of us about each other.” Aurora returned.

Bann Trevelyan sighed and acted as though he didn’t even hear Aurora’s concern. It wasn’t until she forced his hand with an annoyed glare that he finally spoke up.

“Being a Templar requires a strong will, discipline and fairness.” Bann Trevelyan spoke. “Leonardo was a focused warrior, but he still cared deeply for others, especially his family. To know that he had an older sister as a mage would endanger his entire career or even his life. The same applied to you. If you knew that you had a templar younger brother, the bond you would’ve eventually formed with him could’ve possibly alerted other templars and made your life even harder in the Circle.”.

“No.” Aurora angrily responded. “You didn’t tell us about each other because it would’ve destroyed your reputation. Having all of your peers know about your mage daughter was a ‘tragedy’ enough, but having an incompetent Templar as a son would’ve called into question your own competence.”.

Bann Trevelyan bowed his head in shame, allowing Aurora to continue her rage-fueled rant.

“If you really cared, you would’ve at least visited me while I was in the Circle, but not once did you do it. You rarely wrote to me and the last message I ever got from you was about the death of mother, which was over 20 years ago!” Aurora continued.

Bann Trevelyan finally turned from the window and faced Aurora, the sadness in his eyes clearly visible from the moonlight that glistened through the window.

“You are absolutely right to be angry with me.” Bann Trevelyan nodded. “I have been a terrible father to all of my children and I regret any actions I have done that have made you feel unwanted, but I have to acknowledge that it happened and I can’t change the past. 

Aurora was taken aback by her father’s revelation. In the first nine years that she had a normal life living with her family, she remembered that her father was a very prideful man. He rarely apologized for things and believed his word was law, even when he and her mother would get into arguments. To see the old man before her now humbled and revealing that he was wrong and describing his own self in non-praising adjectives almost caused her to skirm. Was this really her father?

“What I can change is what happens now and what happens in the future.” Bann Trevelyan continued. “I want to be active in both your lives again. If you will allow me to.”.

“I need to meet him.” Aurora responded, not answering her father’s plea. “I need to meet my little brother at Skyhold.”

“Then I will help you get there.” Bann Trevelyan stated, walking over to his desk and opening one of his drawers.

The drawer opened with the sound of coins being jingled around the inside. Bann Trevelyan grabbed a handful of sovereigns, way more than enough to get to Skyhold, and walked to his daughter to drop them in her hands. He lifted his head up to his daughter while holding her coin-filled hands and softly spoke to her. 

“Say hello to my boy for me.” he faintly smiled.

Bann Trevelyan started slowly walking back to his desk when suddenly Aurora stopped him.

“Wait.” Aurora paused showing off her ragged clothes. “I don’t suppose you have any other clothes I can wear.”.

**“Take your mother’s clothes.” Bann Trevelyan smiled. “I’m sure they’d fit you perfectly.”**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains the first of many flashback scenes that will be occurring every other chapter :). They are displayed via italicized text and will usually be near the end of the chapters.

“We’re ready to set sail!” the ship’s captain called out through the light rain.

Aurora gathered her small bag of belongings and made her way onto the ship. As she took her first steps on the ship, she was met with wet and loud creaks from the wooden floorboards. She shivered as the Waking Sea winds danced around her. She looked around at her fellow passengers and realized that they were way more prepared for the ship travel than she. Her mother’s clothes probably weren’t the best attire to wear considering that most of them were dresses that were only worn around the castle and its gardens with very few of them appropriate for the harsh climates of the nations outside of the Free Marches.

As she walked around the deck of the ship, she was met with stares; stares that she had gotten used to. The staff that hung on her back always brought stares even despite the Circles being disbanded a few months ago, but she supposed many people were still getting used to mages casually walking around. It wasn’t until she was met with the same stares from other mages aboard that she realized that people weren’t simply looking at her because she was a mage, but because she was a mage with noble attire on. The mages that were staring at her wore ragged clothes very similar to the ones she wore during the Rebellion and they looked at her with envy. The stares made her very uncomfortable and she hurried down below the deck to find a quiet spot to sit. 

Down below the decks was quieter, but that was only because the passengers on the ship above were still admiring the Waking Sea’s view. Taking the opportunity to find a comfortable spot, she set her bag and staff down and wrapped her arms around them tightly. She started meditating and calming her nerves. She knew the trip to Skyhold was going to be a long and tiring one, but she knew it would be worth it. To meet the only sibling she had left, a younger brother she was never told about. Her thoughts and meditation were stopped when she saw more people from the deck traveling down the stairs. Many of the passengers set themselves near the stairs to prevent the inevitable traffic that would occur when the ship reached its destination. This brought Aurora some measure of peace as her space was relatively still quiet, but she was soon met with guests. A family of four, a mother and father with an eldest adolescent daughter and a younger son placed their belongings next to Aurora and made themselves comfortable. The eldest daughter sat to the left of Aurora reading a book with delight. Aurora gazed over to see what she was reading about and it turned out to be a book about the Fade.

An hour into the ship ride, Aurora found herself drowsing off. She tried her best to keep herself awake, simply because she didn’t trust many of the passengers on board not to steal her stuff as she dozed off. Unbeknownst to her, the girl next to her saw the internal fight she faced against herself and sleep and finally spoke up.

“It’s alright.” she whispered with a laugh. “You can fall asleep.”.

Aurora turned to her with a slightly surprised face.

“Don’t worry.” she smiled. “I’ll wake you up when we get there. You look awfully tired.”.

Aurora returned the smile and made herself more comfortable with her belongings. She still held onto her belongings with a tight grip and she was reluctant to fall asleep, despite the little girl’s precious words, but eventually she succumbed to her fatigue and traveled to the dream realm of the Fade.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Aurora found herself hiding in her parents’ closet, surrounded by clothes that mostly smelled of honey and lavender. Her excitement kept her breath unsteady as she heard the room’s door open slowly with a soft creak. She went up closer to the closet’s closed door and peered beyond panels to see a woman dressed in a brown and verdant dress that dragged along the ground creeping into the room with a warm smile on her face. Aurora gave a small giggle at the woman’s spy-like actions. The woman turned to the closet for a moment, but then turned around, acting as though she didn’t hear the giggle. _

_ “Where could my little Dawn be hiding?” the woman said, smacking her lips as she placed a finger on them. _

_ She made her way to the master bed of the room and crouched down on the floor while holding on to the bedspread.  _

_ “Is she under the bed?” she said, lifting the bedspread and revealing nothing but darkness under the bed. _

_ “I was so sure she was under there.” the woman smirked. _

_ The woman lifted herself from the ground and shrugged, moving to her next target which was the room’s desk. _

_ “Is she being studious underneath the desk?” the woman asked, jumping around behind the desk only to find no one there. _

_ “Hmm, she is indeed a tricky one.” the woman laughed. “Oh well.”. _

_ The woman shrugged off and started walking back to the opened bedroom door. Aurora closed her eyes and sighed, but a moment later she heard the closet door immediately being opened and she felt herself being carried out of it. She found herself being swung around in the air by the woman as the both of them gleefully laughed. _

_ “I found you!” the woman smiled as she continued spinning around with Aurora. _

_ “You’ve found me mother!” Aurora returned in between her laughter. _

_ After a brief moment, Lady Trevelyan set Aurora back on the ground and rubbed her braided hair. _

_ “Let’s play again!” Aurora pleaded. _

_ Before Lady Trevelyan could answer, echoing footsteps could be heard coming around the corner in the outside hall. Both of them recognized the rhythm and the steps and looked at each other. _

_ “Perhaps another time little one.” Lady Trevelyan smiled. _

_ A moment later, the footsteps appeared in the form of Bann Trevelyan with both Elaina and Aaron holding his hands. Upon seeing Aurora, the two younger siblings ran up to their older sister and hugged her. They had been gone visiting the Ostwick Chantry with their father the entire week learning about the Chantry, its history and duty to Thedas while Aurora stayed home with their mother learning the same lessons from her. While they were hugging, Bann Trevelyan went up to Lady Trevelyan and gave her a small peck on the cheek. _

_ “How was the trip, love?” Lady Trevelyan asked. _

_ “It’s always great to see some of my cousins in the Chantry and little Aaron and Elaina seemed to enjoy learning about the Chantry as well.” Bann Trevelyan responded. “How were Aurora’s studies here?” _

_ “Very productive.” Lady Trevelyan replied. _

_ “Really now?” Bann Trevelyan stated, eyeing the clothes hanging out of the closet. _

_ “Well, we were simply taking a break.” Lady Trevelyan explained with a laugh. “She’s just turned 9, she’s still entitled to have fun as a child.”. _

_ “That is true.” Bann Trevelyan agreed. “But hopefully it hasn’t distracted her enough from the career that lies before her.”. _

_ “Aurora.” Bann Trevelyan called. _

_ Aaron and Elaina stepped away from her and returned to their father’s side. _

_ “Finish the passage.” Bann Trevelyan started. “Blessed are they who stand before _

_ The corrupt and the wicked and do not falter…” _

_ “Blessed are the peacekeepers, the champions of the just.” Aurora readily answered. _

_ Bann Trevelyan looked back at Lady Trevelyan who smirked back at him. He rolled his eyes, smiling, and faced Aurora again. _

_ “Who is the current Divine and when was she elected?” Bann Trevelyan continued. _

_ “The current Divine is Divine Beatrix III, elected at the beginning of the Dragon Age.” Aurora smiled back. _

_ “Well done Aurora.” Bann Trevelyan applauded. “One last thing.” _

_ “Magic is meant to serve man…” _

_ “Uh…” Aurora awkwardly responded. _

_ “Never to rule over him.” Bann Trevelyan finished. “Study harder Aurora.”. _

_ “Yes father.” Aurora said, bowing her head. _

_ Bann Trevelyan patted Aaron and Elaina on their backs and smiled. _

_ “Alright everyone, the castle cooks are preparing dinner in a couple of hours for Aurora’s birthday.” Bann Trevelyan spoke. “It’s best that we get ready soon.”. _

_ “Yes father.” Aaron and Elaina nodded. _

_ Aaron and Elaina walked out of the room with their father and once their footsteps were out of earshot, Lady Trevelyan sat down and warmly smiled at Aurora, who was visibly upset. _

_ “Don’t worry Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan assured her. “You’ll get there, I know you will.”. _

**_“Thank you mother.” Aurora faintly smiled back at her mother._ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This chapter and the next were supposed to be uploaded on Sunday but I was hospitalized that day and wasn't released until last night. I'm feeling better now though and will resume the weekly Sunday upload going forward :)

Aurora felt a light nudge across her side. For a moment, she simply groaned at the gesture and waved it off, but as the nudge got slightly more aggressive she was reminded that she wasn’t in the nice, warm and lovely smelling bed of Castle Trevelyan, but instead in the damp and dirty hold of a ship. 

She reluctantly opened her eyes and looked at the person nudging her. It was the daughter of the family sitting next to her.

“We’re here.” the girl smiled at her.

Aurora gave an awkward smile and started shaking her head to get herself out of her grogginess. She looked ahead to the stairs leading to the deck and realized that most of the people near them were already gone.

“I waited until the line leading upstairs wasn’t as crowded to wake you up.” the girl continued. “No use in waking you up earlier only for you to have to wait in a long line.

“Angelica.” the father called.

“Yes father.” the girl responded, gathering her belongings. “It was nice sitting next to you.”.

Aurora didn’t verbally respond to Angelica, but gave her a simple nod and smile. The father carefully watched Aurora as she did so. As the family left the area, Aurora started checking her bag to make sure none of the things in her bag were stolen. Although she trusted the little girl enough to fall asleep, she had to be sure that none of her mother’s clothing were gone. Given the stares she received when she first arrived on the boat, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to believe some thief took something while she was down under. She unfastened her bag and started shifting through her items. Everything from her coins to the various scarves and dresses her mother had were still there. After a couple of minutes of gathering her bearings, Aurora made her way up the stairs, she was met by the ship’s captain who stopped her before she could climb the last step.

“Are there any other passengers down there?” he asked.

“Nope, I’m the last one.” Aurora returned.

“Good.” the ship’s captain nodded. “Welcome to Ferelden! Have a safe trip!”

Aurora returned the ship’s captain welcome with a smile and finally stepped back on the deck to walk off of the ship. As she walked across the deck, she was bombarded by raindrops, way more intense than the small drizzle she experienced getting onto the ship back in the Free Marches.

The Storm Coast really lived up to its reputation, she thought.

She summoned a small portion of mana and created a barrier around herself and her belongings effectively causing the rain to bounce off of her like a ball. Once she went down the ship’s ramp and touched the sands of the Storm Coast, she realized that she couldn’t spot any of the passengers she saw only minutes ago, except for one family; the same family that had sat next to her. They were still a great distance away from her, but Aurora knew if she just followed close behind her she would find her way to civilization. Aurora traced their path at a distance, trying to avoid their eyes in case they got the wrong idea. Even from the distance she was at, she could tell the family was bickering around “something”, but she couldn’t quite hear what they were saying. Most likely, it had something to do with their luggage, as they stopped every once in a while to readjust their grips on their belongings.

About a half hour later, the family found itself in a dense, wet forest with Aurora still following close behind. The uneven terrain seemed to tire both of the parties and Aurora was tempted to sit down for a moment, but she continued her trail when she realized the family was determined to catch up to the rest of the passengers of the ship. She groaned and forcibly dragged her feet across the muddy landscape.

“Come on everyone.” the father urged, motivated. “I can finally see the rest of the crowd a half mile ahead.”.

Ugh.” the young son groaned carrying his bag. “Why did we have to bring so much stuff?”.

“The journey to Haven will be a long one my son.” the father answered. “It’s better to be oversupplied than under.”

“I understand food and water, but why so many clothes?” the young son continued.

“Personal hygiene perhaps Patrick…” Angelica, the daughter sarcastically responded.

“You know that I can wear my same undergarments for days no problem.” Patrick responded. “I do it back home anyway.”.

“Ew.” Angelica coughed.

“Enough.” the father sighed. “We have the clothes and we’re not giving them up.”

“Actually that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.”

The voice came in the form of a man who slowly approached from the shadows of the trees. He was a tall, pale man with long, dark mop-like hair that nearly covered his eyes. The wooden staff on his back indicated that he was a mage and his rugged robes with holes all across the sleeves revealed that he wasn’t in a good place either. Two more mages came from the trees shortly after him, one a female elf and another man who seemed way younger than the other two. Both of them also had ragged robes on and messy hair.

“I’m sorry.” the father said holding onto the sword on his side. “We’re not giving up our belongings and you mages aren’t going to intimidate us into doing so.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion.” the elven mage spoke up summoning mana and engulfing her hands in fire.

Aurora looked from the trees at the encounter and then looked ahead to the continuing trail. Most of her instincts told her to go around them and continue down the road. During the years she was on the run from the templars, she had encountered other unfortunate mages who only wanted to get by. Many of them were naive and believed that the people they came across would help their plight, but most of them were betrayed by those same people and slaughtered on behalf of the templars. Even though the Circles were officially disbanded a couple of months ago by Divine Victoria, mages still encountered discrimination and were treated as second class citizens. It was no business of hers to interrupt her fellow mages way of life.

But her heart told her otherwise.

“Hey, wait!” Aurora said, slowly moving from the trees.

The three mages turned their attention to Aurora and aimed their magic at her. She kept her hands in the air as she slowly moved closer to the family. Angelica looked at her ship neighbor and gave a hopeful smile.

“No one has to get hurt.” Aurora continued. “Look.”

Aurora slowly reached inside her purse while the three mages wearily pointed their mana charged staves at her. As soon as her fishing through her purse produced the sound of jingling coin, the three mages grew curious. Eventually, Aurora pulled out a handful of coin, mostly consisting of some bronze and silver with a couple of sovereign. The three mages’ mana surging staves came to a halt as Aurora approached the black haired mage and gently placed the coin in his pale, cracked hands. He looked at the coin in his hand in disbelief and even more disbelief at Aurora’s actions.

“This is enough coin for us to stay at an inn and eat some decent meals for a couple of days.” the mage said looking back at his companions.

The mage looked back at Aurora and nodded. Not a moment later, he quickly turned around and started running down the road, the other mages following. Aurora looked at them and smiled before turning around and facing the family. The family looked on with surprised faces, all except Angelica who smiled uncontrollably.

“Thank you!” she said, finally breaking the silence.

“No problem.” Aurora returned. “They definitely need the coin more than me.”

“You.” the father spoke. “You’re from the ship.”

“Yes I am.” Aurora answered.

“And you, a mage, helped us.” he continued.

“Yes, surely a rare occurrence.” Aurora sarcastically responded with annoyance.

“Why.” the father said crossing his arms.

“Because I know what it’s like to be in their position.” Aurora answered.

The father scanned Aurora head to toe and scoffed.

“You look well off.” he responded. “Better than us anyhow.”

“ _ This _ only happened just recently.” Aurora sighed.

The father sharply turned his head away from Aurora and looked at his wife. The wife simply shrugged and chuckled at the situation holding her belly.

“Are you heading to Haven?” Angelica spoke up.

“No I’m heading to Skyhold actually.” Aurora returned.

“We’re actually traveling there after Haven.” Angelica said excitedly. “Will you travel with us?”

Aurora looked at her completely surprised. Sure she had saved this family and  _ some _ of them were grateful, but this was a big step in their  _ relationship _ , especially given she hadn’t even known them for a day. The father was equally shocked at her daughter’s proposal and stared at her with annoyance. Angelica met her father’s gaze and instantly regretted her offer. The longer they stood in silence, the more the offer seemed more appealing to Aurora. As far as she could remember, she spent most of her life in the Ostwick Circle Tower and only really journeyed the Free Marches during the Mage/Templar War. 

Ferelden was completely foreign to her. 

She did have a map of the country but even she realized the chance of getting lost and taking months just to get to Skyhold was very high. This family was obviously pious and she reasoned because there were plenty of Andrastian landmarks in Ferelden that they knew the land better than her.

She sighed.

“Depends.” Aurora responded. “If  _ he _ even wants me to come along.”

The father scoffed at her remark and looked once more at his wife who finally spoke up.

“She  _ did _ help us.” the mother reminded, rubbing her belly.

He then looked back at his younger son who wore a plain face that didn’t really show disapproval and finally Angelica who seemed the most eager to bring Aurora along. Cursing under his breath he stared back at Aurora with visible annoyance.

“I  _ suppose _ you can come along.” the father groaned.

“Yay!” Angelica cheered.

“Good.” Aurora smiled. “I guess since we’ll be traveling together, we ought to get to know each other.”

“Well my name is Angelica.” Angelica introduced. “This is my younger brother Patrick.”

“Hi!” Patrick greeted, snot running down his nose.

“Hi.” Aurora awkwardly smiled at the young boy.

“My name is Marilyn.” the mother introduced. “And this is my husband…”

“Henry.” the father finished crossing his arms. “And what shall we call you.”.

**“You can call me Dawn.”**


	5. Chapter 5

Dawn and the family journeyed on the road for several hours throughout the rest of the afternoon. The Coastlands were not very friendly during the approaching winter, but Henry pushed the family through the conditions, allowing only a few recesses when Marilyn needed to settle down. He desperately wanted to get to West Hill before the end of the night to avoid having to set camp in the cold, wet environment. He silently admitted that they were much better off with Dawn by their side. She had casted the same repelling spell she had on herself onto the other family members preventing all of them from getting soaking wet. The chill of the Waking Sea’s winds were still present however.

To pass the time and to distract himself from the cold, young Patrick decided to get the family involved in a game of I-Spy. At first, only Angelica found herself joining in on the game despite it becoming incredibly boring since almost all of the things that he spied were grey lifeless rocks or the brown muddy road. The two siblings went back and forth for a while causing Marilyn to chuckle to herself and Henry to shake his head.

“I-Spy...something green!” Patrick said.

Angelica groaned not wanting to answer the obvious answer, but to everyone’s surprise someone else decided to join the game.

“Is it that tall tree ahead?” Dawn questioned.

“Yes it is!” Patrick cheered, snot coming from his nose. “Now it’s your turn.”

“How about another game?” Dawn offered. “A game involving magic perhaps?”

“Yes please!” Angelica answered.

“Absolutely not!” Henry interrupted. “The magic you are using right now is fine enough.”

When he turned his back, Dawn started mocking him by whispering what he said in a high pitched voice and making weird faces. It resulted in a good laugh coming from Angelica and Patrick, who’s laughter ceased when they saw their father’s posture get more tense.

The next hour was basically filled with silence, only brief coughs and yawns interrupting the dead ambience. The group was very tired and almost couldn’t continue on, but Henry urged them to push forward one last time, for the silhouette of West Hill was just in front of them. In less than three miles, they would be back in civilization and on their way into warm beds and full stomachs.

That wasn’t the case.

Entering West Hill, the desire to join civilization quickly turned into disdain. The entire bannorn was completely full of pilgrims attending the very same Haven Memorial Service that Henry and his family were going to attend. Because of this, all of the inns were completely crammed and many people had to set camp outside in the cold.

“So much for warm beds.” Dawn sighed.

Dawn and the family scurried through the crowds of tents looking for a vacant spot to set up theirs and searched nearly twenty minutes for a place. Eventually they found a spot, cramped as it was and started setting up camp. For the most part, Dawn and Henry set up the tent and bedding arrangements to Henry’s surprise. After they were all settled, Henry told the others to say put while he went off to gather fresh firewood and some food beyond their already packed snacks. Dawn joined him much to his dismay, but she knew that he would need help carrying all of the supplies back despite his refusal to admit it. 

The two of them squeezed through the crowds of people and were met with many stares, well at least Dawn was. They were the same stares she had received on the ship to Ferelden and she knew all too well that it wasn’t because she was a mage this time given that there were plenty of other mages here in West Hill.

“Your clothes.” Henry suggested. “You’re bringing unwanted attention.”

“I apologize that these sets of clothes are the only ones I have.” Dawn sarcastically responded.

“I won’t have you endangering my family because of them.” Henry returned. “I think Marilyn has some spare clothes you can change into tomorrow morning.”

“Fair enough.” Dawn sighed.

Once the two of them exited the crowd of tents and people, they found an inn with a relatively short line expanding outside the main doors. The two of them waited in the line for twenty minutes, neither one of them uttering a word to each other unlike the others in line who audibly complained about their living arrangements in this ancient castle town or discussed what they were going to eat or drink.

Inside of the inn was terrible. It was unbelievably more cramped than the camping arrangements outside. Indeed it was a tradeoff because both Dawn and Henry welcomed the warmer environment, but the comfort came with the undesired guests of potent beer and vomit scents. Along with the horrible smells, many drunkards tried their luck at talking to the noble looking Dawn but she deterred them with her fiery expressions. 

Finally after making it to the bar, the two of them were introduced to the bartender. The bartender was a young elven woman with dirty blond hair and large green eyes. Beads of sweat were pouring down her forehead and her tanned cheeks were flushed red. Throughout all the loud noises, she kept pacing back and forth trying to attend to both ordering and waiting customers. Many derogatory slurs were thrown at her by the waiting drunkards, none of them seeming to bother the hard-working elf. Dawn was visibly irritated by how these ‘assholes’ were treating this woman and wanted to speak up against them, but Henry’s demeanor pleaded for her not to do so. His demeanor was a soft understanding one, not the hard, strict one she had only seen him express towards her so far and she was able to let her rage go for a moment.

“Hello my lord and lady.” the bartender greeted. “What can I get for you?”

“Yes, can we get two large slabs of lamb’s meat and a bundle of firewood?” Henry ordered.

“Yes m’lord.” she nodded, clumsily. “That’ll be five silvers.”

Both Dawn and Henry reached into their coin pouches and looked back up awkwardly at each other and then resumed back to searching through their pouches once more before looking back up at each other with an annoyed expression.

“I can pay for our meal.” Henry offered.

“I know you can, but I have more coin to spare.” Dawn returned.

The two of them went back and forth for a moment or two before they heard the impatient grunts from patrons behind them in line and saw the embarrassed face of the bartender.

“Fine.” Dawn said in a light voice, hovering her hands above her head.

“Thank you!” Henry said, handing the coin to the bartender.

She nodded with another clumsy whip and promised them that she would deliver their goods as fast as she could. Dawn assured her that she could take her time with a warm smile resulting in the bartender to look at her confused at first, but then she returned Dawn’s smile with one of her own. The two of them removed themselves from the line and stood on the side waiting for their goods in silence.

“It’s funny how most of these self-proclaimed Andrastians get so amazingly drunk and start harassing people.” Dawn sighed.

Henry simply responded with a grunt.

“I know I could use a drink.” Dawn continued.

“That won’t be happening.” Henry replied. “There will be no time for frivolous activities on this pilgrimage.”

The two of them stood in another moment of silence before Dawn ultimately spoke up again.

“I hope you know not all mages are bad.” Dawn solemnly spoke. “Sure there’s some of us that decide to do evil things with their gifts, but we’re only people, just like everyone else.”.

“Magic isn’t a gift…” Henry whispered loud enough for Dawn to hear.

Before he could finish his statement, the bartender rushed over towards them and greeted them with their goods.

“Sorry it took so long m’lord and lady.” she apologized, more beads of sweat traveling across her forehead.

“Thank you sweetie.” Dawn smiled.

She approached the young elf and placed something in her palm, subtle enough that no one could see what she had done.

“Treat yourself.” Dawn whispered.

The young elf looked into her palm and saw a whole sovereign in her palm. She couldn’t believe what she was holding and looked up at Dawn with teary eyes.

“You are too kind m’lady.” she whimpered.

“You deserve it.” Dawn smiled. “Stay strong.”.

The bartender nodded and slyly put the coin in her pocket before rushing back to her work with a smile.

Carrying the firewood, Dawn turned for the exit and started leaving. Henry followed closely behind.

“It isn’t a curse.” Dawn said to Henry.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Dawn could do was stare at the campfire intensely after she and the family finished their dinner and most of them were already fast asleep, except Henry. Most of the campers around them were winding down and settling into their tents for the night while she and Henry sat in the near silence not even acknowledging each other, but unlike the bar scene she was completely fine torturing herself by staring at the blazing beast while he read whatever book he held in his hand. Some book probably about the Chantry or Andraste she thought.

She  _ hated _ fire. 

The memory-fueled element carried past pains to her in its embers as they danced from their warm home and were whisked away by the night wind. The fire reminded her of terrible nights camping in caves or deep inside woods to avoid templars during the Mage/Templar War. Many of those nights she would go to sleep on an empty stomach or discover that the environments she stayed in belonged to some creature that didn’t have the desire to share its home. Admittedly, fire did save her life many times with its warmth and ability to protect, but the primal element also traumatized her since she was a little girl. She would forever mark fire as the element that both saved and destroyed her life.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Aurora looked around at the smiling servants and chefs amazed. They all wore their best uniforms and brought out the best smelling meals she had ever smelt in her life. Sitting on each side of her were her parents with Aaron and Elaina sitting to the left of their father’s side. As the table looped around, many more of her cousins, aunts, and uncles were patiently awaiting their meals, well all except Aunt Lucille who always managed to make a big deal about the service. One of the most important guests of the night was Bann Trevelyan’s own aunt who was the current Grand Cleric of the Ostwick Chantry. The table held a medium sized auspit dish that was largely used for aesthetic purposes, but she hoped her father would let her use it for their dessert tonight given the special occasion.  _

_ Several minutes after all the dishes were passed around, Aurora was met with her favorite dish; rosemary and black pepper topped venison with a side of sliced baked potatoes and steamed carrots. Today was indeed her birthday. _

_ After everything was settled, Bann Trevelyan lifted his wine glass and tapped it with his toast spoon gathering the attention of everyone in the room. Standing proudly from his seat, he looked at all the well-dressed guests and sighed with a smile. _

_ “First and foremost, I would like to thank you all for attending this momentous day. Today we celebrate my eldest’s 9th birthday.” _

_ The guests cheered and clapped for Aurora who was flushed from embarrassment. _

_ “Sweetheart, I am so proud of you and what you have been able to accomplish in such a short timespan. You are incredibly smart and kind and I know as you get older you’ll continue to do the Maker’s work. Happy Birthday my sweet!” _

_ “Happy Birthday!” the guests cheered. _

_ As the clapping and cheering continued, Lady Trevelyan wrapped her arms around Aurora, kissing her on the cheek and wished her a happy birthday. Everyone started to elegantly consume the delicious meals prepared for them. Aurora relished in the flavor of the venison and was almost tempted to just chow it all down, but she knew her father would disapprove. A couple minutes into dinner, the guests started to interact with each other. Most of the talks were about the current state of politics across Thedas as well as talks about the Chantry. Honestly, it kind of bored Aurora since she had no interest. She couldn’t even talk to her brother and sister since her father sat in between them, but from a glance at them she could see that they were at least keeping each other company. She turned to her right to try to talk to her mother only to realize that she was already occupied talking to some of the guests. She sighed and sat alone eating the rest of her meal. She didn’t want to sound selfish, but she thought it was awfully inconsiderate that no one seemed to want to interact with her despite it being her birthday. Lady Trevelyan realized her daughter’s annoyance moments later and politely ended her conversation with one of the guests to attend to her. _

_ “Looks like you’re almost done with your meal.” she smiled. _

_ “Yeah…” Aurora responded poking her remaining potatoes with a fork. _

_ “Finish that up so we can eat our desserts together.” Lady Trevelyan replied with a wink. _

_ Aurora quietly laughed with her mother as she eagerly thought of what dessert they would be served tonight. She hoped that it would either be a vanilla or chocolate treat but to have both would really make her night. _

_ “So Aurora, I heard that you have been studying Chantry lore to become the Grand Cleric at the Ostwick Chantry.” a guest spoke. _

_ Aurora turned to the man and recognized him as her uncle Zain, her father’s older twin brother. _

_ “As it happens, your cousin Thea is also studying the same material.” he continued. “Perhaps you two should study sometime.” _

_ Aurora didn’t know how to respond to her uncle’s proposal and looked up to her father who simply looked at him, a visible vein popping from the side of his forehead. For as far as she could remember, she only saw her uncle a good four to five times a year, usually during the holidays, birthdays, and Aunt Lucille’s famous balls and it was because her father and her uncle rarely ever got along. They always competed with each other, from the fanciest clothes, luxurious furniture, and most importantly reputation. _

_ “In fact, why don’t we do a friendly quizzing session huh?” Uncle Zain smirked. _

_ “In the middle of dinner brother?” Bann Trevelyan responded trying to hide his temper from the guests. _

_ “Yes, no harm in friendly competition right?” Bann Zain laughed. _

_ “Of course not.” Bann Trevelyan said. “Aunt, do you mind?”. _

_ “Why yes!” the Grand Cleric smiled. _

_ The two daughters started stressing out from being put on the spotlight. All other side conversations ceased and their attention focused on the two girls. _

_ “Alright, the first question goes to the birthday girl herself.” the Grand Cleric started. “Who founded the Chantry?” _

_ “Kordillus Drakon.” Aurora answered with no hesitation. _

_ “Excellent.” the Grand Cleric nodded. “And for Thea, when was the Chant of Light created?” _

_ “-130 Ancient.” Thea replied. _

_ “Outstanding.” the Grand Cleric smiled. _

_ The two daughters looked at each other and smiled at each other genuinely. _

_ “Returning to Aurora.” the Grand Cleric stated. “Which sin is believed to have tainted the Maker’s Golden City?”. _

_ “Pride is the answer.” Aurora nodded. _

_ “Indeed.” she returned. “And what became of the men who tried usurping the Maker’s Golden City Thea?” _

_ “They became the first darkspawn.” Thea answered. _

_ The two daughters went back and forth correctly answering the next few questions thrown their way. The guests were completely impressed by these nine-year old girls’ ability to answer multiple Chantry lore questions and the Grand Cleric stared at both Zain and Lucious with approval. Entering the seventh round, the Grand Cleric decided to switch up the format of the questions. _

_ “Alright Aurora. Fill in the blank.” the Grand Cleric started. “ _ _ Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls. From these emerald waters doth life begin anew…” _

_ “Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you…” Aurora started. _

_ Aurora stopped for a moment, causing the room to go uncomfortably silent. Beads of sweat started to drip from her forehead. Her father slowly turned to look at her and she struggled to look at back him. She felt the sharp eyes of everyone peering into her soul almost as if they knew she had no idea what the last line was. Mouth trembling and legs shaking, she was calm by the touch of someone rubbing her hand. She turned to see it was her mother who simply gave her a warm smile that told her “Everything will be okay.”. Releasing a deep breath, Aurora looked back at the Grand Cleric who was awaiting her answer. _

_ “I...don’t know the line.” Aurora truthfully answered. _

_ The silence returned for a couple of seconds before the Grand Cleric nodded and faintly smiled at Aurora. _

_ “Thea, do you know the last line.” she asked. _

_ “In my arms...lies Eternity.” Thea answered. _

_ The guests applauded the two girls for an impressive trivia game. The two fathers smiled at the guests who praised them for raising pious little girls, Lucious could spot the arrogant smirks of his brother in between the other smiles. Once the celebration died down, the servers approached the table of guests with a giant red velvet cake singing a birthday chant for Aurora. All of the guests joined in on the birthday chant, all except her father who was whispering to her about the trivia game. Despite the clamor of voices joining in on her birthday chant, all she could hear was her father. _

_ “I told you to study your verses more.” he whispered. _

_ “I know.” _

_ The flames of the auspit flickered unnaturally. No one noticed. _

_ “Did you see the look on my brother’s face?” _

_ “I know.” _

_ The flames grew a couple inches higher than normal. Only Lady Trevelyan noticed this time and she started growing concerned. She looked at Aurora and saw that she was trembling. _

_ “You embarrassed and disappointed me.” _

_ “I said I know!” Aurora angrily yelled. _

_ The flames of the auspit roared and shot into the air nearly touching the ceiling of the room. A flush of warm wind slapped the face of all the guests instantly blushing all of their faces. Some unfortunate servers who were cutting the cake near the auspit got the worst of it. Two of them had a close encounter with the flames and their faces started burning. The other servers rushed to their aid and patted their faces down, but once they removed the towels, huge sections of their faces suffered second and third degree burns but despite these casualties none of the guests were staring at the servers. _

_ They were staring at Aurora. _

_ “Maker, she’s a mage.” the Grand Cleric said almost fainting. _

_ Aurora looked at her hands in horror, tears welling in her eyes. Lady Trevelyan grabbed Aurora and embraced her, tears also swelling in her eyes. Through her tears, Aurora looked back at her father who looked completely destroyed. _

**_The templars would be coming any day now._ **


	6. Chapter 6

Dawn stared at the magnificent blue and orange sky for what seemed like an hour. She mindlessly watched the morning coast birds encircling the fortress dive down and picked up ignored crumbs and crusts from people’s dinners last night. She was the last person in the group to fall asleep but the first one to awake. A part of her knew that she didn’t have to wake up so early like she used to for the past 3 years on the run, but old habits indeed died hard and no matter how hard she tried to rest, she just couldn’t. Well, since she was already up she might as well do something productive she believed.

Lifting herself from her sleeping bag, she started dusting off the dirt that was caught in her hair and clothes. She looked around and saw that Henry was still deep in sleep while the tent where his wife and kids stayed was completely still. She grabbed her staff and walked over to the tent, opening to see both Marilyn and Patrick still fast asleep, but Angelica wide awake. At first Angelica didn’t recognize Dawn’s presence as she was deeply entranced in the book she was reading, the same book Dawn saw her reading on the ship. After a moment, Angelica recognized the looming figure in front of her and was startled.

“Hey Dawn.” Angelica whispered.

“Hey.” Dawn smiled. “I’m heading out to run an errand. Care to join?”

Angelica responded by quickly placing her book down and crouching to Dawn’s side. The two of them quietly closed the tent’s flap and were on their way to the inns. 

Walking around all the camp setups was a mission. Many of West Hills’ residents got stupidly drunk last night and were scattered all across the ground some of them surrounded in their own piss and vomit. It was repulsive and the two of them gagged many times from the putrid smell. Angelica was very elegant in avoiding stepping on the sleeping drunkards, but a couple of times Dawn would accidently kick a drunkard causing them to groan. Although these incidents were indeed accidents, she only regretted getting her nice shoes dirty.

When the two of them were out of the crowded area, they found themselves in front of one of the inns. Besides the inn was a stable that had a whole bunch of horses and carriages flowing out of it. The two of them walked over and for a moment it seemed as though these horses and carriages were left alone, but as they got closer they could hear the sounds of hay being shuffled and wood creaking.

“Hello?” Dawn called out.

A second later, the two of them were met with a messy haired stable boy who smelled of horse dung. They plugged their noises and tried hard not to offend the young man.

“Hello!” the stable boy cheered. “What can I get for ya?”.

“I would like to borrow a coach and two horses.” Dawn said in a nasally voice. “If you have any available that is.”.

“Of course m’lady.” the stable boy bowed. “That’ll be five sovereigns.”.

Dawn reached into her purse and pulled out the required amount. Handing it to the stable boy, he notified them that it would take him around fifteen minutes to gather the carriage and horses. When he ran off, Angelica tugged on Dawn’s cloth.

“You actually got us a carriage?” Angelica said in disbelief.

“Of course.” Dawn laughed. “I certainly don’t want to walk all the way to our destination. I’ll wait here, go get your family.”.

“My family will really appreciate this.” Angelica smiled and soon after running off to get them.

Thirty minutes later, Angelica returned with her family excited to reveal to them what Dawn had done. From the outside, the family looked like a mess. Patrick eyes were crusted and snot swung from his nose as always. Marilyn didn’t have time to do her hair this morning and looked like she had just been in a bar fight and Henry. Well, Henry wore his famous grumpy face and it was obvious that he wanted more sleep. It was a sight for sure, but Dawn had come to see them as adorable.

Once they reached the stable, Angelica stopped dragging them and the family wondered what they were doing here.

“What’s going on Angelica?” Henry questioned. “And where’s the mage?”.

“The  _ mage _ is right here.” Dawn called out.

The family looked up at Dawn who was on the passenger’s side of the carriage holding the reins of the horses.

“Let’s get a move on.” Dawn smiled.

Marilyn, Angelica and Patrick made their way to the coach as Henry stood there appalled. He looked up back at Dawn and saw her prideful smirk.

“Come on!” Dawn directed. “You’re leading the way.”

Henry grumbled and mumbled something under his breath that Dawn didn’t care for but he made his way to the carriage. Once he settled himself in, he was met with the reins in front of him. He turned to Dawn who had still wore her “stupid smirk” and snatched the reins.

“No need to thank me.” Dawn replied. “I know those words are not in your vocabulary.”

Henry sighed.

“I suppose having you around can’t hurt.” he whispered.

“I guess that’s the best I can ask for.” Dawn shrugged.

Henry spurred the horses and they were off.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ferelden countryside was much more appealing when traveling was less difficult. Dawn and the family could properly take in the environment without worrying if their legs would give away while walking long distances. They had been on the road for a good two hours and in that time Patrick had resumed his game of I-Spy with his older sister. This time, the game was more interesting because they were well past the grey dismal parts of the Coastlands and were now on the way around the beautiful Lake Calenhad with a multitude of green trees and flowers that covered the entire spectrum spanned for miles on the side of the road. The oncoming winter had not yet affected this part of Ferelden it seemed.

The tension between Dawn and Henry was lower than usual but the two of them still didn't speak to each other. She was content with just looking at the foreign Ferelden landscape while he was equally content focusing on the road ahead. Occasionally, Henry would glance over at Dawn to see the woman looking all around them with child-like awe. He wondered why she praised the landscape in the first place. Sure, it was indeed beautiful, but the country still smelled of wet dog and it was still freezing cold; it didn’t get any better each time he traveled here. But he supposed she suffered from the ignorance of never venturing the country before. He chuckled to himself, imagining how her next visit would fare.

A few moments later, Dawn was still amazed with the environment all around her and she just couldn’t keep it to herself. Opening herself to the energies of the Fade, benevolent whispers rush around both her and Henry. At first Henry didn’t pay any attention to the whispers, reasoning that it was just the wind, but he was startled when he started hearing little high-pitched laughter. He turned frantically and saw a green wisp hovering next to Dawn displaying the same amount of awe Dawn showed despite not having a face to show it. Henry panicked and reined in the horses to an abrupt stop.

“You dare summon a demon!” Henry barked. “In front of my family!”

“It’s not a demon!” Dawn defended. “It’s a spirit.”

“Same damned difference!” Henry said pointing his sword at her and the wisp.

The wisp cowered behind Dawn as she tried hard not to move a single muscle. 

“Father, what’s going on?” Angelica asked, jumping out of the carriage.

“Dear Maker, why do you have your sword pointed at Dawn?” Marilyn questioned worried.

“She’s summoned a demon can’t you see!” Henry explained.

“It’s not a demon father!” Angelica explained. “It’s a spirit!”

“How would you know?” Henry replied.

“Because the book I’m reading says so.” Angelica pleaded.

Henry staggered for a moment still pointing the sword at Dawn and the wisp.

“I  _ know _ spirits can easily become demons.” Henry continued.

“Only if you provoke them.” Dawn said in a calm and quiet voice. “Like you are doing now.”

The spirit wisp was still cowering but it was slowly becoming evident that it was becoming more sporadic in its movements. Henry sighed and placed his sword back into its sheath. Once he did, Dawn placed her hands down but was greatly annoyed at the cautious man. A second later, the spirit wisp shot above the two of them and started jumping around panicking.

“What is it…”

“Wait.” Dawn interrupted Henry. “The wisp is warning us...of something.”

The two of them looked behind them on the road and saw silhouettes of horseback riders. Not quite sure who they were, a glistening light appeared in front of the silhouettes prompting Dawn to go wide eyed. Summoning a small force of mana, Dawn fashioned a shield in front of her which protected her from the true form of the glistening light; an arrow.

“Bandits!” Dawn warned looking at Henry.

“Everyone get back into the carriage now!” Henry demanded.

Angelica helped her mother into the carriage and as soon as they were settled in, Henry spurred the horses and they were off in a hurry.

“Keep you heads low!” Dawn ordered. “I’ll deal with them!”

Angelica, Marilyn and Patrick laid their backs on the ground avoiding the open window in the back on the carriage while Dawn produced a lifeward spell around Henry as he traversed the dirt road. With the family taken care of, Dawn started summoning mana to produce offensive attacks.

As the bandits approached closer, Dawn could make out six horses with two bandits of the backs of each. On four of the horses, the back riders were archers while the other two horses had mage back riders. It would be tricky taking them all down, but as long as Henry could keep the horses going they’d have a chance.

Releasing the offensive magic she had been holding on to in the form of two arcane bolts, they zip passed the carriage and struck two of the riders. One of them successfully hit one of the riders, causing them to fly back against the archer behind them as the horse galloped off the trail. The other rider that the second arcane bolt went after avoided it because their mage co-rider redirected the energy. Retaliating, the same mage backrider sent a fireball hurling towards the carriage and although Dawn was able to quickly conjure up a barrier spell to protect them, the impact caused the carriage to rock. Dawn could hear the screams from inside the carriage which prompted her to immediately send another arcane bolt at the bandits, this time hitting the same mage that sent the fireball. A quarter of them were down and although Dawn felt herself tiring out from the constant defensive and offensive spells, the adrenaline in her blood and the determination to protect this family kept her fighting. 

The bandits were approaching fast which was a huge risk given that Dawn could more accurately strike them down, but they knew that she wouldn’t be able to attack them all at the same time. After multiple failed attempts at pinning down Dawn, the archers started focusing on shooting their arrows at the carriage’s wheels hoping to jam them. Dawn was able to quickly discover their plan and transferred the mana used for her barrier and redirected it in the form of two spirit bolts that successfully hit two archers. However because her barrier was down, one archer managed to shoot an arrow that grazed her right arm causing her to scream in pain. She quickly brought up another slightly weaker barrier to protect her while the archers and remaining mage worked hard to break it down. 

“Henry!” Dawn gritted as she felt the bombardment. “Lyrium potion...my bag!”

Henry tossed the rein in his right hand over to his left hand and for a moment the horses started going off road. As he scrambled through Dawn’s bag, he felt the rumbles of the projectiles hitting the barrier, which blurred his vision and made it harder for him to find the potion. He felt coins and clothes, but not a single touch of glass. As he dug deeper into the bag, he started to feel the cold surface of a flask and he rapidly pulled it out, presenting the blue liquid. Just when he was ready to give the mana to Dawn, his grip on the reins started to loosen and then the horses started to sharply shift across the road causing him to drop the flask near his feet. He quickly gained control of the reins again and moved the horses back on the road and then started reaching down by his feet for the flask. The barrier was nearly broken and actually had a few arrows zipping past its weak spots, none of which hit Dawn or Henry.

“I can’t hold on any longer!” Dawn said in between the sweat in her eyes.

Henry performed one more attempt to reach down near his feet and was successful this time, triumphantly holding it tight before him.

“Here!” Henry said, undoing the lid and placing the liquid in front of Dawn’s lips.

She proceeded to drink the mana and the both of them watched as the barrier started to reinforce before them. The barrier’s strength started to get so potent that it actually started repelling the arrows back at the bandits, successfully hitting two more bandits. Using the kinetic energy built up from the projectile hits, Dawn released the energy in the form of a pushing force that caused three more back riders to fall, one being the other mage.

There were now only two more bandits riders and their faces were full of rage seeing how one mage was able to take out their companions. They spurred their horses beyond normal speeds and pulled out their swords. Instead of aiming at Dawn herself, they started preying on those in the carriage, impaling their swords into the carriage. Both Dawn and Henry looked on in horror as they were both currently in a helpless situation, with Henry still spurring the horses and Dawn was recovering from releasing the huge blast of magic. Angelica, Patrick, and Marilyn screamed as they saw parts of the carriage being chipped off and exposing the danger of the bandits. There was only one thing Henry could do but it would be a big risk.

“Hold on everyone!” Henry warned.

Dawn and the family held on to the nearest thing and Henry abruptly stopped the horses, causing the bandits to zip right past them.

“Now!” Henry yelled.

Dawn gathered her mana and released two spirit bolts, successfully finishing the last of the bandits.

As the horses galloped off the road, Dawn and Henry looked back at the carriage which was nearly chipped open and saw that Angelica, Patrick and Marilyn were completely fine. Henry gave a sigh and relief and slowly turned to Dawn who met his gaze.

**The two of them simply nodded at each other.**


	7. Chapter 7

Dawn had spent the last thirty minutes feeding and tending to the horses. They were greatly fatigued after using all of their stamina to escape the bandits and could only drag their hooves a few more miles after they did escape. It was only the middle of the afternoon, but the horses would need a full night of rest to recover meaning Dawn and the family would have to set up camp on the side of the road for now. Angelica had offered to help Dawn tend to the horses and although it hurt her heart to deny the eager little girl’s help, she just needed to be alone.

After the horses were taken care of, she looked over at Henry who had just finished setting up the tent. She looked on at the man, angry that he had pulled a sword on her and her spirit friend just nearly an hour ago. Her patience with the man was running very thin and she was surprised that she and him hadn’t gotten in a physical fight already. It was probably because she needed him to guide her to Haven and then Skyhold. She could’ve asked for directions or bought a map back in West Hill and then bought the carriage and been on her way. 

But she stayed, for two reasons. 

She had never been to Ferelden in her 37 years of life and only read of it in texts provided by the Ostwick Circle. To think that the very nation the prophet Andraste was born in was a land filled with terrible monsters such as werewolves, darkspawn, among other things. She was fortunate to have only faced bandits so far, but even she knew she wouldn’t have been able to take them all on by herself.

The second reason was that she had actually grown fond of this family. Well, all but Henry at this point. Despite being pious, Marilyn had accepted her and made sure she was well, Patrick made her laugh with his little antics and Angelica was such a sweetheart. Although she didn’t fare well with Henry, she had to bregrudely admit he was actually very efficient in their travels. They were already a day ahead of the pilgrims that were at West Hill, partially thanks to her purchasing of the carriage, but it was Henry that led them through the roads. He had been to Ferelden a multitude of times before and knew all the backroads and shortcuts, how to avoid all the wild animals, and pushing the horses just enough to get them far ahead without fatiguing them too much. The Haven Memorial Service was two weeks away, but he promised them that they would be in Haven within a week and so far he seemed to be fulfilling that promise.

If everything went according to plan, she would see her baby brother in less than three weeks and  _ that _ made everything worthwhile.

Gathering some firewood left from the other night, Dawn made her way towards the campsite. Once she approached the grassy shore, she dumped the bundle on the ground in a loud thump. Henry didn’t turn around and simply continued watching the lake. She stared at him and saw that he was looking at a structure across the lake. The structure stretched beyond the low clouds of the afternoon and almost had an ominous feel to it. At first she didn’t recognize the tower, but then mental images from the books she read in the Circle flashed through her mind and she started slowly realizing what the structure was.

“Do you know what happened there?” Henry questioned. “A little over a decade ago?”

“I only heard the rumors.” Dawn responded. “Is it…”

“Yes.” Henry softly answered. “The tower was overrun with blood mages. Many people died from those abominations.”

Henry paused for a moment before continuing.

“My cousin...he was a templar there and he...died protecting his templar brothers and other young mages from the demons.”

“I’m sorry.” Dawn whispered.

“For the past 12 years I’ve always looked at that tower with a heavy heart, but also a little contentment.” he continued. “‘Keep those monsters locked in there forever’ I thought. But now the tower is just an empty husk and mages walked freely amongst people.”

“Mages  _ are _ people.” Dawn affirmed, but avoiding an aggressive tone.

“What I mean to say is...I appreciate what you’ve done for my family.” Henry struggled to say. “Maybe I’ve mistreated you for no good reason.”

“Oh there’s no question about it.” Dawn scoffed.

“I guess my only question left is, what do you think will happen to the rest of the Thedas without the Circles?”

“I believe mages need to be taught how to use their magic.” Dawn answered. “But I don’t think the harsh reality of the Circle will do that. It only breeds resentment. Sure, there will always be the small minority of mages that wish to abuse their magical gifts, but I and many other mages will work with the rest of Thedas to stop them from harming others.”

Henry sighed and turned to Dawn.

“I pray that you are right.” Henry nodded.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ It only took until the following morning after her birthday for the templars to arrive. _

_ After the revelation that she was a mage, the guests were silently escorted out of the castle and she witnessed her father apologizing to each and every guest, especially the Grand Cleric. He was simply met by horrified and disgusted faces and they thought of him as pathetic. His older sister, Aunt Lucille, was the only one who could only give him a sympathetic look. After everything was cleaned up, her father escorted Aaron and Elaina to their rooms and didn’t give a single glance at her. Instead, Lady Trevelyan carried her in her arms, took her up to her room and stayed with her the entire night. Neither one of them could sleep and all Lady Trevelyan could do was hold on tight to her whimpering daughter as she tried very hard to hold back her own tears. _

_ Half an hour later after the sun rose across the horizon, there was a knock on the door. The knockers behind the door didn’t wait for a voice to allow them in and slowly opened the door to confront the mother and daughter. Aurora recognized the two templars as her older cousins; one a young man who had a buzz cut and small scar across his left cheek and another a young woman with a short puff of dark curly hair. She rarely saw these two growing up except when she accompanied her father to the Chantry, but she definitely remembered them, Daniel and Gabrielle, always wearing the bulky pearl colored armor with the flaming red sword at the center of it. She always found herself nervous around the big armored warriors when she was younger, but now she believed she had every right to be fearful of them. _

_ “Hello Aurora.” Gabrielle greeted, with a warm smile. _

_ Aurora snuggled into her mother’s arms not facing the templars causing Gabrielle's warm smile to transform into one of sadness. Daniel, on the other hand, kept his serious composure. _

_ “Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan softly spoke. “Talk to your cousins.” _

_ Aurora reluctantly lifted her head from her mother’s arms and faced her cousins. _

_ “H..Hi” she said. _

_ “We’re here to take you to the Ostwick Circle.” Gabrielle continued, trying her best to sound as kind as possible. “We have a carriage that will safely transport you there and we have to leave soon.” _

_ Dawn stayed silent and fearful, but she still faced her cousins. _

_ “I know that you feel scared, but we are here to let you know that you shouldn’t be afraid of the Circle.” Gabrielle promised. “It is a place where you can practice your magical abilities in a safe environment.” _

_ “But I won’t be able to return home ever again?” Aurora asked. _

_ “I’m afraid not.” Gabrielle solemnly stated. _

_ Dawn sighed trying to keep her composure. Lady Trevelyan rubbed her hand to calm her. _

_ “Will I ever see my brother and sister again?” Aurora inquired. “My mother...my father?”. _

_ “It isn’t customary.” Daniel finally spoke in a deep voice. “But...they can visit you in the Circle. Not very often however, once a month.” _

_ “...okay.” she accepted looking up to her mother. _

_ “Could we have a moment please?” Lady Trevelyan pleaded. _

_ “Two minutes.” Daniel answered. “Then we must be on our way.” _

_ The two templars stepped out of the room and closed the door behind them, leaving only Aurora and Lady Trevelyan in the room. _

_ “My sweet Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan smiled. “You are going to be fine.” _

_ “I don’t know mother.” Dawn doubted. “This is a big change. I won’t be able to see you, Aaron, Elaina and father as much anymore.” _

_ “We’ll always be here for you Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan promised “And you will always be you.” _

_ “I guess so.” Dawn shrugged. _

_ “Hey.” Lady Trevelyan said, lifting Dawn’s chin. “I’ll visit you every first of the month, write to you every week, and pray for you every night.” _

_ “You promise?” Dawn asked with teary eyes. _

_ “I promise.” Lady Trevelyan smiled, with teary eyes of her own. _

**_The two of them embraced each other for the last minute they were together before the inevitable knock came._ **


	8. Chapter 8

Traveling on the Imperial Highway for the next three days, Dawn got to experience more that Ferelden had to offer. The glistening lake had lost her attention and instead the Frostback Mountain range gathered it. She had seen nothing like it in her entire life and had only read of the mountain range in texts provided by the Circle. From learning that the passage to the dwarven kingdom of Orzammar and that the Urn of Sacred Ashes were discovered here, she couldn’t believe that she actually had the opportunity to see it with her own eyes. She herself had grown near the Vimmark Mountains in the Free Marches and saw the green range from the Ostwick Circle Tower, but something about the completely snowy region of the Frostback made them more appealing. 

They were well on the way towards the “bunny paws” of Lake Calenhad, as Patrick put it, which meant they were at least three more days away from Haven. But beyond the new environment and atmosphere she was so enraptured with, perhaps the thing she valued the most in the past three days was Henry’s willingness to ‘open’ up to her.

Henry had taken the time to speak on the different terrains they passed after witnessing Dawn’s childlike fascination on multiple occasions. With each little area came a tale, a tale Dawn always found herself listening to with open ears. She was actually impressed with the man’s ability to tell a compelling story and had initially thought him to be a very boring person.

After traveling on the road for three hours straight, Henry decided to stop by and have the horses rest in a pit stop town. The town only had two structures, a medium-sized inn and a stable for horses. Pulling next to the inn, Henry asked Dawn if she could escort his family inside of the inn and handed her some coin. Taking the coin, Dawn nodded her head and left the passenger seat to help Marilyn out of the carriage. Once Dawn had successfully escorted them inside, Henry guided the horses over to the stables, which were mostly empty, save for three other horses. Climbing down from the carriage, he lightly stroked each of their manes which caused them to release a pleased nay. He did this for a moment as he looked around waiting for the stable boy to appear and help him, but he never appeared. Running low on patience, he slowly strolled away from his horses and started moving towards the barnhouse.

“Hello?” he called out, approaching the entrance to the barnhouse.

After a minute of no responses, Henry continued through the barnhouse and saw it completely vacant as well. Scratching his head confused, he reasoned that the stable boy probably went to the inn for a break and was ready to return back to the horses to wait for him. Just when he was about to go, a loud thump was heard near the back of the barn where another exit was. Suspicious, Henry cautiously walked towards the back exit and heard the ruckus more clearly.

Someone was being harassed.

Making his way out of the barn through the back exit, he saw the stable boy with a pitchfork being surrounded by three bandits; two of them dagger wielding thugs and one of them being a mage, who was doing most of the harassing.

“I’m not going to ask you again you rat.” the mage said. “You’re going to give us access to your horses or else.”

“I can’t, the people in the inn need them.” the stable boy cried.

“I don’t care what they need.” the mage replied, conjuring up a fire spell to burn the stable boy. “It’s either the horses or your life.”

“Please don’t do this!” the stable boy pleaded. “You can’t do this!”

“ _ I _ can do whatever I want.” the mage corrected, knocking the pitchfork out of his hands.

“Stop it right now!”

The mage retracted his fire and he along with the other two bandits turned around to greet the brave soul that would dare stop their robbery. They were revealed to the middle aged swordsman that was Henry and started to laugh.

“Just who are you?” one of the bandits asked in between their laughter.

“Just a lone soul trying to stop whatever is going on here.” Henry responded.

“Listen old man.” the mage said, stepping forward. “This is none of your business. Just move along so we don’t have to hurt you.”.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Henry replied, grabbing the base of his sword.

“You should’ve kept your nose outta this one old man.” one of the dagger wielding thugs said, running towards him.

Easily countering the dagger wielding thug’s attack, Henry staggered his foe and quickly sliced him down bringing a shock to the other dagger wielding thug. The other thug rushed at him with more fury and managed to land a few hits on the man’s leg, but Henry was determined to keep fighting. As the man felt himself being barred down by the aggressive thug, he eventually fell on the ground and nearly met his end by the attacking thug. Fortunately, Henry was able to roll out of the way, avoiding the thug’s daggers and swung his sword, slicing the thug’s leg. Bringing himself back to his feet, Henry swung his sword down on the staggered thug and finished him off.

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Henry turned to meet the last thug but he was surprised by an incoming ice blast heading his way. He was able to avoid a direct hit from the spell, but the blast caused him to fly across the ground into the barn. He found himself lying on a stack of hay in the barn with several sharp ice shrapnel impaled across his right arm. He grunted in pain and struggled to lift himself from the haystack as laughter from the mage outside of the barn became more apparent.

“You seriously thought you could beat me old man?” the mage laughed as he approached the struggling man. “I have the power of the elements at my fingertips.”.

Henry tried grabbing his sword which was only a foot away from him, but the mage thug stopped him by stepping on his right arm causing him to scream from the unbearable amount of pain he felt. Angered by the mage taunting him, he repeatedly used his left hand to punch the leg of the thug, but the mage kept laughing. After enough taunting, the mage started powering up his staff with fire magic and was ready to launch the spell at Henry.

“Should’ve ran away.” the mage said, as Henry grunted from the scorching heat wave he felt across his face.

Before the mage could release the spell and end Henry’s life, the stable boy approached the thug from behind and impaled his back with his pitchfork. As the mage screamed in pain, the staff aimed at the ceiling which caused the spell to be released and blast with a section of the barn’s ceiling. Seeing the section come down, Henry gathered what little energy he had left and rolled to the side as the mage was bombarded with the ceiling debris.

As the dust settled, Henry found himself being helped by the stable boy whose face was still red from his tears earlier.

“Thank you kind sir.” the stable boy said hugging Henry.

Henry grunted as he received the hug from the stable boy, prompting him to stop hugging him. After quickly apologizing, Henry pleaded for the stable boy to take him back to the inn where his family was. Eager to help his savior, the stable boy placed Henry’s arm around his back and helped him walk towards the inn.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Help!” the stable boy said, entering the inn. “This good sir needs assistance!”

Dawn and the family who were eating snacks panicked at the sight of the injured and bleeding Henry. Jumping from their chairs, Angelica and Patrick rushed to their father with tears welling in their eyes as Dawn helped Marilyn from her seat to meet with him.

“What happened father?” Angelica asked.

“He was harmed protecting me from thugs.” the stable boy explained. “A mage did this to him.”

“Maker, we need to get him to the room to patch him up!” Marilyn stated.

As the stable boy and kids held on close to Henry as they guided him out of the bar and towards the rooms, Marilyn followed close behind as Dawn followed them.

“Wait, I can help with the healing!” Dawn offered.

“No!” Henry barked back at her. “No magic!”

“Darling…” Marilyn pleaded.

“I’ll be fine...with some alcohol, stitches and bandages.” Henry explained. “There’s been enough magic.”

Dawn was left standing outside of the room as she watched the stable boy and his family place him on one of the beds. Marilyn sat next to her husband as the stable boy rushed to bring them an aid kit that the family had in one of their bags. Patrick sat on the other side of his father holding lightly to his father as tears continued welling.

**The last thing Dawn saw before the stable boy closed the door to drown out the noise was the sorrowful look Angelica wore as she stared back at Dawn with teary eyes.**


	9. Chapter 9

It was late at night and although most of the family was already asleep, Dawn stayed awake and looked up at Lake Calenhad through their room’s window. It was difficult to fall asleep after what had conspired today and Henry’s grunts of pain throughout the night troubled her. As much as she wanted to help heal the man, she wouldn’t go against his wishes. The best thing she could do was get some fresh air to clear her mind. Looking back once more to make sure everyone was asleep, she made her way across the room and quietly opened it, which caused Angelica to stir a little. Squeezing through the door crack, Dawn closed the door more quietly and started making her way downstairs to go outside.

Outside, Dawn walked slowly towards the grassy shore that was near Lake Calenhad. She took a great inhale of fresh air and slightly smiled. It was almost surreal, the amount of serenity and tranquility she felt at this moment despite everything. Looking back at the inn to make sure no one was around, Dawn summoned a small portion of mana and opened herself to the Fade. Both benevolent and malevolent spirits whispered to her, but she was easily able to drown them out and focused only on one. Bringing forth a small wisp a moment later, the spirit cheered gleefully and danced around Dawn. She quickly shushed the little spirit and pointed towards the inn, where many people were sound asleep. The little spirit wisp calmed itself and hovered near Dawn as she laid her back on the grassy ground and looked up to the heavens.

“I know it’s been a little while my friend but I wanted you to join me at this moment.” Dawn spoke. “I may not look like it now, but I am so excited.”

The wisp hovered over, making a small, quiet cheer.

“This journey has been difficult, but it has been worth it.” Dawn continued. “This family takes after my own sometimes and they’ve made the trip worthwhile. And although they don’t know it, they keep me motivated to meet my baby brother.”

The wisp bounced up and down.

“Thank you.” Dawn chuckled. “Nothing can bring me down now.”

The wisp glided over Dawn producing a bright light nearly blinding her and heard it panicking. 

“What is…”

Dawn turned over to see the wisp hovering over Angelica. She was startled to see the young girl awake, but upon looking at her clear eyes it appeared she never fell asleep in the first place.

“Angelica, I…”

“No need to panic Dawn.” Angelica laughed as the wisp danced around her.

“The wisp...it’s not afraid of you?” Dawn questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“I guess not.” Angelica said, ceasing her laughter. “I need to tell you something.”

Dawn saw the worried look in her face and lifted herself from the ground to comfort her.

“What’s wrong Angelica?” Dawn asked.

“I..I” she struggled. “It would be better...to show you.”

She looked back at the inn to make sure no one else was around and then looked back up at Dawn with innocent eyes. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Angelica held her hands out in front of her. For a moment nothing happened, but then Dawn sensed the reality around them being shifted and becoming vulnerable. Dawn recognized the sensation instantly and grew wide eyed when the shift of reality produced a small blue flame within Angelica’s hands. Holding it only for a couple of seconds, Angelica quickly extinguished the flames and reality was once again reinforced.

“You’re a mage!” Dawn accidentally exclaimed. “It makes so much sense now. The book, the wisp having an affinity for you. How long have you known?”

“A little over two years now, during the height of the Mage/Templar War.” Angelica explained. It was a couple of months after my tenth birthday and all the fighting and killing scared me into producing my first flame.”

“Emotion  _ is _ usually a catalyst for emerging magic.” Dawn explained, remembering her first magical outburst.

“I knew this and since then I’ve always tried to keep myself calm and collected, rarely letting fear, anger or hatred take over my emotions.” Angelica continued. “I’ve been self-teaching myself in private for years through books and I haven’t even told anyone, not even my mother and I’m afraid.”

“Afraid?” Dawn inquired. “What are you afraid of?”

“I’m afraid that I could accidentally hurt someone. I’m afraid of getting possessed by a demon.” Angelica explained.

“I’m afraid of disappointing my father.” 

The air was still after that. Dawn could see small tears pouring down young Angelica’s face as she recklessly tried wiping them away. Dawn felt the pain and fear Angelica was feeling now because she had felt the same way many years ago.

“After...after meeting you and seeing the creation and spirit magic you specialize in...I thought maybe...maybe.” Angelica continued through her tears.

“That I could teach you.” Dawn answered.

“...yes.” Angelica quietly answered.

Dawn gave out her hand to Angelica and she hesitantly took it. Dawn slowly guided them to the grassy shore that overlooked Lake Calenhad. Although it was night and they were miles away from it, shadows of the tip of Kinloch Hold were still visible. They stood there for a full minute admiring the indigo view in silence before Dawn finally spoke.

“I hated what magic did to me.”

“I hated that magic separated me from the family I knew and I hated that magic took me away from family I never got to know. I hated that in my ignorance of magic that I drove those who were close to me away. I hated that I was taught to think I was less than people who lived outside of the Circle. I used to hate every single lesson I was taught about magic in my early years. I used to curse the Maker for destroying my life for giving me such a curse. I used to get in trouble with the templars in the Circle in the faint hope that I would get kicked out of the Circle or even tempt them to kill me.”

“I  _ hated _ myself.”

“It took me seven years for me to love myself, what I had become and who I was destined to be for the rest of my life. Seven years for me to embrace what I thought was a curse as a gift. Seven years for me to see the value I already had.”

Dawn looked back down at Angelica.

“You don’t have to go through what I had to go through.” she smiled with watery eyes. “You will love yourself and you will embrace your gift from the Maker. I will make it my mission to do so and I will not fail you.”

“...I don’t know what to say.” Angelica stumbled.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Dawn assured. “You only have to listen and learn.”

**“We start now.”**

**\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_ Lady Trevelyan entered the small room where Aurora was waiting, staring at the fireplace with a textbook she left carelessly hanging from the arms of the chair she was sitting on. She had heard the loud creaking of the door and she knew who came in, but she didn’t care. She just continued looking into the warm, traumatizing fire. _

_ “Thank you.” Lady Trevelyan said, smiling at Gabrielle. _

_ “Of course.” Gabrielle nodded. “And...welcome back.” _

_ Gabrielle pulled the door behind her with a creaking noise and it shut with a thunderous, metal slam causing Lady Trevelyan to jump a little. She had almost forgotten how loud the Circle Tower doors could be. Once she gathered herself, she walked slowly to her designated chair and saw that Aurora still didn’t turn to face her. Once she settled into her seat, she placed her hand on her daughter’s arm but Aurora quickly pulled it away. _

_ “Sweetheart…” _

_ “Where did you go?” Dawn asked. _

_ “I had to attend with matters at home Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan explained. _

_ “For 14 months!?” Dawn exclaimed. _

_ Her booming voice echoed throughout the small room they were in. Lady Trevelyan saw the flames in the fireplace started to rise, but a moment later started to cool. She wasn’t frightened by it. _

_ “Things are complicated back home Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan softly spoke. “I still wrote to you every week like I promised.” _

_ “That’s what each of your letters said.” Dawn returned. “Things were ‘complicated’. What was so complicated that you couldn’t see me for fourteen months, mother?” _

_ Lady Trevelyan didn’t respond. She was able to hold back her tears, but Dawn could easily see the strain. _

_ “The first three months here at the Circle were bearable at most because of you. I used to count the days until I would see you again and you made my entire month in the short time I spent with you and then you just vanished. How could you do that to me?” Dawn continued. “I hate it here and I hate this curse.”. _

_ “Don’t you ever say that Aurora-Dawn Trevelyan!” Lady Trevelyan responded in a stern voice. _

_ Dawn was taken aback by her mother’s sudden sternness. She had witnessed her mother being happy, sad, excited along with other emotions but she had never seen her mother so angry before. Lady Trevelyan was quick to recollect herself however and the two of them were left in silence for a moment. _

_ “I never told you about your grandmother Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan started. “My mother.” _

_ Dawn shook her head and looked up at her mother. _

_ “You already know that my father was a merchant and my mother and I had to travel a lot with him.” she continued. “But him being a merchant wasn’t the only reason we constantly traveled.” _

_ Dawn sat up from her slouch. _

_ “Your grandmother was an apostate.” Lady Trevelyan revealed. _

_ Dawn grew wide eyed and found herself at a loss for words. _

_ “Your grandmother was...remarkable.” Lady Trevelyan said looking at the fireplace. “Everywhere we traveled she helped people, she healed people and was always kind to the same people who despised her for what she was. My father always feared for my mother’s life, but she always said that her magic was a ‘gift to be shared’. Eventually after many years, the templars caught up to her and she was taken away from me and I never saw her again. The memory of her always stayed with me, someone who loved herself and loved others. This is who you could be Dawn if you just love yourself and accept the gift the Maker has given you.” _

Dawn looked at her mother in disbelief. This revelation that her grandmother was an apostate was almost unbearable and it almost made her sick to her stomach. 

“My grandmother was a mage.” Dawn started. “And now I have to be the one to suffer the consequences.”

“It isn’t like that Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan sighed.

Before she could continue, a loud knock was heard on the giant metal door. Her time was up.

“I will make efforts to visit you more often Dawn.” Lady Trevelyan concluded. “It won’t be every month, but I will be here. I promise.”

**Lady Trevelyan kissed her daughter on her forehead as a single tear fell from her eye.**


	10. Chapter 10

It only took them three more days to arrive at Haven. Henry had noticed during the past three days that Dawn didn’t have the same child-like wonder looking at Ferelden’s landscape she had the first four days on the road. In fact, he noticed that she had bags under her eyes and she kept dozing off at random intervals. He wondered what time she would actually go to sleep given that she always insisted on taking the first night shift, but she was an adult and he was sure that she could take care of herself. Fortunately for them, there were no bandit attacks so he was more lenient with her tiredness.

As the family arrived at the campsite, Patrick shook his older sister awake and jumped up and down, excited that they had finally made it. Angelica groggily woke up and stared outside the carriage’s window to see the other pilgrims next to their parked carriages. She gave a faint smile and laid her tired head back down. She wore the same bags under her eyes as Dawn.

Finding an empty spot to stop their horses, they were met by two Inquisition soldiers who offered to help them unload. Henry claimed that they were fine, but the soldiers insisted on helping them and he finally relented. Handing their bags and weapons to the soldiers, Henry and Dawn made their way down from the carriage and went to aid Marilyn, Angelica, Patrick. Patrick found himself jumping outside of the carriage and doing a small dance of victory. After all of their trials and tribulations, they had finally made it to Haven. Marilyn was the next person to get out of the carriage as she was escorted down by Henry and while he did that, Dawn went to the other side to get the exhausted Angelica.

“It’s time to wake up Angelica.” Dawn whispered. “You’ll have to act like you aren’t tired or else your father might suspect something is up.”

Angelica groaned and tried lifting her head up, but she soon found herself laying her head back on the seat of the carriage.

“Alright, I guess I’ll have to carry you on my back.” Dawn chuckled.

Grabbing the little girl by her arms, Dawn gently pulled her, sitting her up right. After Angelica stayed sitting up, Dawn turned around and asked her to place her arms on her shoulders. After slowly doing so, Angelica felt slight butterflies in her stomach as she was lifted from the carriage and on the back of Dawn.

“Hopefully the camp isn’t far.” Dawn hoped.

“Don’t worry, since you’re early to the memorial it’ll only take around five minutes to find a spot for you all.” one of the soldiers confirmed.

The soldiers kept good on their word. They were able to find an excellent spot for the family to settle their camp. There were only a half a dozen other tents set up and a couple dozen of people walking around the area. Dawn was very pleased with these arrangements, given the horrible ones back up at West Hill but she started to realize that as the week went on, the place would only become crowded and this time it would be ten times more crowded since people from all over Thedas were journeying here. She and the rest of the family would just have to enjoy the peace and serenity for as long as they could.

The two soldiers helped Dawn set up the tent while Marilyn and the children worked to make a warm fire for lunch. Henry desperately wanted to help make the tent with Dawn and the soldiers, but Marilyn sternly demanded him not to. She had heard the groans and gritting of his teeth the past few days and although he insisted that his wound was healing, she knew he needed more rest. He would just have to stand there, watching as everyone worked hard to build the campsite. 

He felt helpless and he hated every moment of it.

It took them all around ten minutes to finish everything and they thanked the soldiers who responded with smiles and nods. As they began to leave to help the next set of pilgrims, Dawn stopped them for a brief moment.

“Hey, thank you both once again for your help.” Dawn repeated.

“It’s no problem.” one of the soldiers replied.

“Hey, before you go, do you mind if I ask a question?” Dawn asked.

“Sure.” they responded.

“The Inquisitor, is he here or will he be here?” Dawn continued.

“The Inquisitor is a busy man, but from what I’ve heard he has made time to be here during the memorial service next week.” the other soldier answered.

“Thank you, that’s all I wanted to know.” Dawn smiled.

“No problem, my lady.” the soldier bowed. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

“You as well.” Dawn bowed.

Dawn watched as the soldiers ran off to help the next pilgrim as she stood smiling to herself. She would see her brother very soon and although she might not have the chance to talk to him during the memorial service, it would be the first time she would ever see his face. She was overzealous.

“Dawn, are you going to eat lunch?” Marilyn asked from afar.

“Yes, I’m coming over right now!” Dawn said, running back to the camp.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Dawn found herself in the Haven tavern eating peanuts at the bar counter. Usually at this time she would be off with Angelica teaching her more magic, but after today’s events, she believed that they were entitled to a break. In fact, she found that it was easy to relax in Haven while the population was still small. The tavern didn’t smell like vomit and the patrons were at a responsible volume, which meant she could think with interruptions. She thought about everything in the past few years and how all of it built up to this moment. She had survived running from the templars, living in the wild, and fending off bandits, all of those experiences culminating to this moment. There were many times in the past where she wanted to give up, accept any fate her enemies had in store for her. But now, she was grateful that she made it this far.

Made it this far to finally meet her baby brother.

“Dawn!” a voice called to her.

Dawn turned around and was greeted by Angelica whose eyes were red from tears.

“My father.” she continued. “He needs your help.”

Dawn left her stool with swiftness leaving behind the shells of the peanuts.

Back at their camp, the groans of Henry became more apparent and she knew it was a serious deal once she saw the tent violently swaying back and forth. Entering the tent, Dawn saw Patrick holding on to his father with tears in his eyes, while Marilyn tried her best to calm down her husband. With Dawn’s entrance, Marilyn looked up to her with hopefulness that she could help her husband. Through his sweat and pain, Henry looked up at Dawn for a brief moment and sighed.

“No magic...please.” Henry faintly said. “We just need to reinforce the stitches.”

“No!” Marilyn responded. “We tried your way, now we’re going to do hers.”

“I...alright.” he relented, staring at Dawn.

Dawn nodded and asked the others in the tent to leave for the time being in order for her to complete the task. Once her and Henry were the only ones in the tent, she asked him to remove the cloth that he was holding on his arm. He was reluctant at first, but eventually released the cloth revealing the injury however it wasn’t quite what she was expecting. Of course, she expected the several gashes across his arm, but there was something else horrifying as well; a large burn scar across the arm. She looked back up at Henry who adamantly avoided her gaze, but she could sense the embarrassment from the man.

“I didn’t know you had this.” Dawn spoke.

“It’s a long story.” Henry softly replied.

“Tell me.” Dawn returned surging up healing magic and placing the magic on his arm. “If you are comfortable.”

“...I...okay”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Henry walked into his children’s room to make sure they were still fast asleep. He knew after the events of today, the anxiety of the danger approaching would’ve kept them up, but he assured them that once they awoke they would be on their way to safety. Softly closing the door behind him, he started walking towards his bedroom. _

_ “They’re finally asleep.” Henry said, opening the master bedroom door. _

_ “Good.” Marilyn sighed. “They surely are brave in a time such as this.” _

_ “Indeed they are.” he replied, getting into the bed. _

_ The two of them laid in bed looking at the ceiling, silent only for a moment before Marilyn spoke up again. _

_ “Are you sure we’ll be safe in Ferelden?” Marilyn asked. “The war is happening all over Southern Thedas.” _

_ “I know, but anywhere is safer than here in the Free Marches.” Henry reminded her. “The rebellions started here which means that there is a stronger concentration of both templars and mages. Ferelden only has one Circle and the country is big enough for us to avoid contact with the war.” _

_ “I trust you, love.” Marilyn said, kissing him on the cheek. _

_ “We’ll make it there safely.” Henry assured. “Now, get some sleep darling.”. _

_ Thirty minutes had passed and Henry was still awake staring up at the ceiling. Although he had assured his children and wife to stay calm about the situation, he himself was still stressing about the whole situation. He had seen the power that mages possessed first hand before during his younger years and he also knew that templars would do anything to put a maleficar down. He would just have to trust in his own ability to protect his family with his sword, shield, and limited templar abilities. As he was ready to go asleep, he heard the sound of wood creaking outside of his bedroom door. He sighed; the kids should’ve been asleep. _

_ Lifting himself out of his bed, he groggily approached the door and opened it only to find that neither Angelica nor Patrick was there. Confused, he heard another creaking of the wooden floor near the kitchen. Slowly moving down the hall towards the kitchen, sounds of utensils and glasses became apparent and Henry became more cautious. Moving his head around the corner, he saw the shadow of a person, but the shadow wasn’t that of a child, it was that of an adult. _

_ “Hey!” Henry said. “Who are you and what are you doing?” _

_ Startled, the assailant started making their way towards the main door with a bag of jingling goods. Making his way towards the assailant, Henry tackled the man to the floor causing the bag and its contents to scatter across the ground. The assailant tried scrambling back to his feet, but Henry held on to his legs tight. After a moment, the assailant managed to free one of their legs and kicked Henry in the face allowing him to free himself. Standing to his feet and gathering as much of the dropped contents he could, Henry started making his way back to his feet. _

_ “Stop!” Henry said, trying to tackle the assailant again. _

_ The assailant panicked, started conjuring a spell in his hands and clumsily released the spell against Henry. The fiery spell attacked his right arm and the force pushed him back against the wall. Screaming in agony against the wall, the bedroom doors started opening and sounds of worry were becoming audible. Not sure what to do, the mage assailant gathered what little he could of the dropped utensils and ran out the door, leaving the cold winter air to breeze around the house. _

_ “Father!” Angelica and Patrick cried kneeling down with him. _

_ “Henry!” Marilyn joined in coming around the corner. _

_ “My arm…” Henry said, hyperventilating. “My arm…” _

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And you are healed.” Dawn said smiling, after he finished his story.

Henry looked to his side and saw his right arm healed completely of the gashes. The burn scar was still there but it was slightly less visible and no sort of pain was felt.

“I wasn’t able to get rid of the scar completely due to how long you’ve had it, but I hope the pain is at least gone. Both the physical and emotional.” Dawn hoped.

Henry moved his arm around with delight and actually chuckled a couple of times. Dawn joined in on his happiness with her own light chuckles.

**“It is.” Henry responded with a smile.**


	11. Chapter 11

“We have to hurry back!” Dawn said running. “The ceremony just started and your father is probably looking for us.”

“Okay!” Angelia said with a smile.

The two of them made their way down through the woods and headed towards the golden light that was coming from the Haven Chantry area. A couple of hours ago, Dawn and Angelica told Henry that they were going for a walk around the surrounding area of Haven to take in the beautiful, wintery landscape. They wanted to experience the night constellations, hear the night life sounds and take in a moment of tranquility from the crowd that was constantly growing each minute in anticipation of tonight's event. Besides that however, Dawn wanted to teach the young Angelica more on healing magic. Dawn noted that Angelica was a true prodigy at healing magic and although it would take a few more years to fully master the ability, she was definitely ahead of most mages that began learning healing magic, including herself.

Nearing the edge of the woods leading back into civilization, the two of them were stopped by the sound of an animal. The sound of the animal was a sound of pain and Angelica started running towards it. Dawn followed closely behind Angelica despite not wanting to be late for the event. After a moment of following the sound, Angelica stumbled across a small fennec which was stuck in its place. The fennec cried as it tried moving, but it couldn’t and Angelica discovered that there was a small trap that had latched on its foot. Angelica looked back up at Dawn with pleading eyes.

“We have to help it.” Angelica said.

Dawn looked at it for a second before turning her head back towards Haven, where an audible cheer was heard. She wondered if the people were cheering for the Inquisitor’s appearance. Looking back at Angelica, she responded.

“Okay.” Dawn nodded.

Dawn moved closer to the injured fennec and got a clearer vision of the trap, understanding how to get the poor creature out of it.

“Okay, it works similar to a bear trap.” Dawn explained. “I’ll pull apart the trap and you carry the fennec out of it. Got it?”

“Yes.” Angelica nodded.

Dawn reached down for the trap and slowly but surely pulled it apart. The trap resisted so Angelica had to pull out the fennec fast before the trap closed again. Carrying the fennec out of the trap, Dawn let go of it, causing a loud, metallic sound.

“Its foot.” Angelica realized. “It looks like it's really injured. It won’t be able to walk.”.

“Nothing a little healing magic can’t fix.” Dawn said, summoning healing mana.

“Wait.” Angelica stopped her. “Can I...heal it?”

Dawn was taken aback by Angelica’s request. Sure she had basically taught Angelica most of the basics of healing magic, but she had never put those lessons to practice on  _ anyone  _ or  _ anything _ before. Healing a small animal such as a fennec would be a great first patient for her.

“Sure, go ahead.” Dawn responded with a smile.

Angelica handed the fennec to Dawn to hold as she started conjuring up healing mana. The aura around her hands turned light blue and she slowly hovered them over them over the animal. Swaying her hands first to the right and then slowly to the left, the aura started pulsating and the animal started groaning. Dawn looked on and nodded her head at Angelica’s technique.

“That’s right Angelica.” Dawn softly spoke. “Remember, healing magic works very similar to the waves of the sea. Pushing out the pain, pulling in the comfort. Pain out, comfort in.”

Angelica started focusing more magic in and kept her perfect pace of pushing and pulling as the fennec’s groan started getting quieter and quieter. Eventually the humming sound that came with the process of healing started to slow and the light blue aura around Angelica’s hands started to dim. Releasing her hold over the magic, Angelica stepped back and looked at the fennec.

“Did it work?” Angelica asked.

“Let’s see.” Dawn smiled, placing the animal on the snowy ground.

As soon as the fennec touched the ground, it started scurrying around Angelica with gratitude. Its foot was healed alright. The two of them, both mentor and mentee, laughed and cheered at Angelica’s success and a moment later, the fennec ran off back into the woods. This time, more cautious of its surroundings.

“That was amazing Angelica!” Dawn laughed. “I’m so proud of you!”

Angelica ran up to her mentor and hugged her in a tight embrace. The embrace was unexpected for Dawn but she gladly accepted. 

After a moment or two, Dawn was brought back to reality and realized the two needed to continue on and hurry back to camp. Angelica agreed with her and the two made a run for the Haven.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Entering through the gates of Haven, Dawn and Angelica were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people trying to file in near the memorial. Fortunately for the two of them, Henry had already reserved them a spot near the front of the memorial so all they had to do was squeeze through the crowd and find him. As the two of them approached closer to the front, they started hearing the voice of someone speaking on behalf of the Inquisition. From what Dawn could discern, the accent wasn’t from the Free Marches nor Ferelden. Angelica noted that the accent sounded more western, Nevarran being her best guess. Nearing the front, the two were revealed to the speaker who was a short black haired woman who donned black and silver armor with the Inquisition symbol bearing on the center of her breastplate. She had a scar running down her left cheek and she looked very strong. To the right of the speaking woman were three other people. One was Divine Victoria herself, little strands of red hair peeking out of her Chantry hood.. Beside her was a tall man with blond hair donning a lion’s fur coat and solemnly bowed while the short hair woman spoke. Lastly besides him was a dark tanned woman wearing a fine golden dress with a fur coat over it. Dawn continued to look around the four of them to see if she could spot her brother, but her attention was diverted when she felt someone lightly tug her arm. Turning around to greet the tugger, Dawn and Angelica were greeted by Henry who smiled at being able to find them.

“What took you two so long?” Henry asked with a chuckle.

“The stars were out tonight and I’ll admit, we got lost in them.” Dawn returned with her own chuckle.

“Well come.” Henry nodded. “The Inquisitor is surely to be out soon.”

Henry guided the two of them to where Marilyn and Patrick were which wasn’t that far away from where they were already standing. Marilyn and Patrick were joyed to see that Henry had found them and that they could all be together for the Memorial Service. Just as they were all settled, the woman speaking started her closing remarks.

“It is now my greatest pleasure to introduce you to the man that will be leading us all in prayer to commemorate those that lost their lives here one year ago to Corypheus’ attack. The Herald of Andraste, Champion to the People, Your Inquisitor!”

The pilgrims cheered and clapped as a man approached the stage from the entrance of the Chantry. People in front of Dawn waved their hands in the air making it difficult for her to see the Inquisitor but after a moment of adjusting herself, she was able to spot the man she traveled a week to see; her younger brother. She noticed that her younger brother wore a humble smile as he approached the stage and he looked very tall; slightly taller than she was anyway. He had long dark brown locs of hair that flowed a little above his shoulders and had a clean face of stubble. Donned in a brown outfit made of leather and cloth that was topped with a fur coat, he donned a verdant scar that flew with the winter winds. Standing upon the stage, he waved to the crowd and solemnly bowed to them. He really did excel at etiquette and manners and Dawn couldn’t tell if it was because his advisors demonstrated how he should act or because of lessons from their father. The Inquisitor was definitely her brother and it nearly brought a tear to her eye to finally see him for the first time in her entire life.

“Thank you, thank you!” the Inquisitor said, smiling and nodding.

As the pilgrims' cheers and claps started dying down, Leo cleared his throat and started his speech.

“I am so content to see so many pilgrims and supporters of the Inquisition here tonight, together. Tonight we take this time to not only mourn but remember the sacrifices that many good people gave for it is with their courage and belief that allowed us to survive and defeat Corypheus. They may be gone from this plain of existence, their physical bodies no longer with us, but it is our efforts to remember and honor them that keeps who they were alive as they watch down upon us with the Maker.”

The Inquisitor paused for a moment.

“This time last year, I was in a horrible place as were many others. I saw myself as a failure, completely incompetent of doing anything, most of all, saving the world and saving those I care for. I blamed myself for all the deaths that happened here on my watch and found it hard to forgive myself. It wasn’t until a dear revered mother, Mother Giselle, lifted me from the abyss that I was in and I soon found myself surrounded by those who supported and believed in me despite how I felt about myself. They sang me a song; a song I want everyone to recite along with.”

“Shadows fall, And hope has fled. Steel your heart, The dawn will come.” he started.

“The night is long, And the path is dark, Look to the sky, For one day soon, The dawn will come.” everyone else joined in.

Dawn looked around and saw the hundreds of pilgrims singing along with the song in perfect harmony. Henry and his family also found themselves joining in on the song. Dawn, however, didn’t quite sing with the rest of the crowd. Instead she found herself staring at her brother with a smile, so proud of the young man before her. To hear his story of doubt turned into a tale of triumph, she saw herself in her younger brother. As the lyrics of the song echoed through her mind, he was reminded of another day that had changed her life; the catalyst that made her see the abilities she possessed as a gift and not a curse.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Aurora stared blankly at her textbook for the past hour. It had been like this ever since she first arrived at the Circle seven years. She had barely got by all of the required classes, but was still behind in her studies. She had yet to show any interest in any particular school unlike her peers and she rarely talked to any of the other apprentices. Truth be told, it was hard for her to find a crowd to fit in with. It seemed as though half the mage apprentices enjoyed learning magic a little too much for her while the other half hated learning magic as much as she did but still found themselves getting by classes better than she did. _

_ As soon as the enchanter allowed her apprentices to leave the class, Aurora found herself being stopped by her. _

_ “Aurora…” the enchanter softly smiled. _

_ “Enchanter Laura” Aurora responded. _

_ Despite her dislike for learning the art of magic, Aurora had always enjoyed having Laura as her Enchanter for the past four years. She was an elderly woman who was very soft spoken and generous to all her students, even the students that gave her a hard time. Although she specialized in the School of Creation and taught many classes in that school, she found her passion in teaching the younger mage apprentices that were on your way to the magehood. _

_ “Are you aware that you will have to start expressing your interest in a school next month?” Enchanter Laura asked. _

_ “Yes…” Aurora sighed. _

_ “Do you have an idea of which school you would want to join?” Enchanter Laura continued. _

_ “No...but I will find out.” Aurora faintly smiled. _

_ Aurora tried walking away but was stopped by Enchanter Laura who folded her arms and cleared her throat. _

_ “I promise.” Aurora assured. _

_ Enchanter Laura leaned down to face Aurora with a warm smile. _

_ “I know that you’ve had a difficult time adjusting to the Circle…” _

_ The rest of what the enchanter was saying to her flew in one ear and out the other. All she could think about was how much she hated being a mage. She had been in this tower for a little over seven years and she always wondered what her family was up to. At this time, Aaron and Elaina would be 14 and 12 years old, respectively, and most likely were still pursuing their Chantry careers. She hated that she wasn’t able to see them grow up and the only memory she had of them was from the horrible day that was her 9th birthday. Her mother continued to visit her, keeping her promise she made so many years ago, but the intervals between visits were getting longer. As of today, it had been around three months since her mother had visited her here, but it was understandable. The last time her mother visited, Aurora could tell something was bothering her; she wanted to tell her something. Aurora deduced that it had something to deal with father. He probably didn’t want her mother visiting her as often anymore which really caused Aurora to have disdain towards him. _

_ The man had never visited her since she arrived at the Circle and he never even sent her a letter. She wholeheartedly believed that both Aaron and Elaina wanted to visit her at some point, but their father would forbid them to do so and now he was doing the same to her mother. The only time she would hear about her father was when her mother sent her monthly letters or when she physically visited her but nothing she told her indicated that he was thinking about her. _

_ After so many years of hoping he would take the time to visit her only once, she finally accepted that she was no longer his daughter. All she had was her mother and the hope that she could see her brother and sister again someday and truth be told, she was completely fine with that. _

_ “I just really care for my apprentices and I believe if you put in the hard work, you’ll catch up.” Enchanter Laura finished, once Aurora came back to her senses. _

_ “I appreciate you trying your hardest.” Aurora faintly smiled. “I will try better.” _

_ Enchanter Laura smiled and nodded, allowing Aurora to leave the room. _

_ On her way back to the room at the Apprentice Quarters, she kept her head low and walked at a fast pace. In her peripheral, she saw some of her fellow apprentices talking amongst themselves, but as soon as she neared them they started whispering. She already knew that they were making fun of her for being behind in her classes and although when she first started her apprenticeship they hurt her feelings, now she didn’t care and refused to give them the satisfaction of reacting. Once they believed her to be out of ear shot, one of the apprentices accidently stated aloud that she should just become tranquil because there was no way she could become a full-fledged mage causing her to stop for a moment and start shaking from anger. The group of apprentices started laughing at her uncontrollably, but before she could even react she was stopped. _

_ “Get back to your rooms, apprentices.” a templar ordered the apprentices. _

_ The apprentices hurried back to their rooms still laughing at Aurora. _

_ “Thank you, Gabrielle.” Aurora sighed. _

_ “Of course, Aurora.” Gabrielle nodded. _

_ Aurora tried continuing back to her quarters but was stopped by Gabrielle who softly grabbed her shoulder. _

_ “Wait Aurora.” Gabrielle solemnly said. “I have a letter for you...from your father.” _

_ “My...father?” Aurora questioned with skepticism. _

_ “Yes...he sent this directly to me to give to you.” Gabrielle said, handing her the letter. _

_ It was true. This letter was from her father. It had the famous Trevelyan family seal on it, something only her father and his siblings did. _

_ “Good evening Aurora.” Gabrielle said walking away to continue her duties. _

_ Once Gabrielle was out of sight, Aurora returned her gaze to the letter. She could scarcely believe that her father actually wrote her a letter after all these years. Her first instinct was to tear it open and read whatever was inside, but then she stopped herself. The more she looked at the seal on the envelope, the more she got enraged. A couple of moments ago she just accepted that she was disowned by her father and that he had no interest in her being in the family and neither did she being his daughter. It’d be so easy to tear up the letter without a second thought, solidifying that he was no longer her father, but something in her prevented her from doing so. It was true that she wanted to hear nothing about her father, but she couldn’t help but wonder if the letter mentioned anything of her siblings or her mother, so putting her pride aside she opened it and read it. _

_ Aurora, _

_ I write this letter in sorrow, but you must know that your mother is no longer with us. For months she has battled sickness that not even the best medics and healers could heal. She may be gone, but know that she now watches over us now with the Maker. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Bann Lucious Trevelyan _

_ Dropping to her knees and tearing welling in her eyes, she couldn’t catch her breath. Was this really happening? She read it a couple more times not believing what she was reading but all it did was make her panic more. She tried crying softly, but the halls echoed the slightest of her weeps causing some of the apprentices to stare at her in confusion. She didn’t care for their prying eyes however and wanted to be left alone. _

_ She was reminded of the day six years ago when her mother first visited her after a fourteen month absence; the day that her mother told her to embrace the gift she was given and to love who she had become. At the moment she didn’t want to hear it and even moments ago she still despised being a mage, but now everything changed. She wanted to honor her mother and her memory. _

**_From this moment forth, she would love herself and accept her magic as a gift._ **


	12. Chapter 12

The following morning, the Inquisitor and most of the Inquisition forces started their journey back to Skyhold while Divine Victoria and her Knights returned to Orlais. There were a couple dozen soldiers left behind to make sure the pilgrims were safe, but many of the travelers themselves were starting to return to their homelands. Many of the pilgrims that did stay planned on journeying to Skyhold and would do so in two days. However, Henry proposed to Dawn and his family that they leave by the afternoon in order to get the best opportunity for comfortable arrangements. Each of them agreed to this plan, each having their own reasons. Henry and Marilyn agreed that getting their early would be best for her given that they planned on staying until their child was born, while Angelica and Patrick wanted to see the magnificent fortress that was Skyhold before it became too overrun to explore in its entirety. Dawn had her own motives as well. After briefly seeing her baby brother speak with such genuinity last night, she had grown very impatient and wanted the chance to introduce herself and foster a relationship.

Informing some of the Inquisition soldiers that they were leaving, the soldiers told them that a blizzard was slowly forming in the mountains and advised them to gather as much firewood and warm clothing as they could. Taking their advice, Dawn and Henry stopped by the inn and Chantry to gather both of the goods, respectively, while two of the soldiers escorted Marilyn, Angelica, and Patrick back to their carriage. Within a half an hour into the afternoon, they were ready to set out for Skyhold.

For the first couple of hours traveling and winding around the Frostback Mountains’ path to Skyhold, Dawn and the family were met with relatively ease. Grass and rocks still peeked through the snow making it very easy to stay on the road, but the more they traveled north, the more the grass and rocks retreated back into the snow. The air around them was getting colder causing Henry and Dawn to put on their extra clothes.

When dusk started approaching, they found themselves on a relatively flat landscape within the mountains. From their location, they could see the setting sun, but they could also see the approaching blizzard. Fortunately, the blizzard storm was moving pretty slow towards them and wouldn’t hit them until late into night, but they would have to travel a lot slower to make sure they stayed on the path.

“One last obstacle.” Henry sighed, looking at the approaching storm.

“Yes it is.” Dawn joined in with a sigh of her own.

“We’ve been through so many. We’ll get over this one too.” Henry said, determined.

“Agreed.” Dawn said. “I’m not letting this storm stop us from getting to Skyhold.”

“Well before we enter the belly of the beast, I want to say thank you. For everything.” Henry said in gratitude.

“Of course, it worked out for both of us.” Dawn smiled.

“Anyhow, you never told me why you needed to come to Skyhold.” Henry stated.

For the longest time, Dawn wanted to keep her reason for journeying to Skyhold a secret. She wanted this family affair with meeting her brother to be something between her family, but she felt that she could finally trust Henry with this knowledge without being judged for it.

“My brother lives at Skyhold.” Dawn started. “A brother that was kept a secret from me until recently because I was a mage. I intend to make up lost time with him and hope we can create a strong relationship within the short time that I will be there.”

“Wow.” Henry responded. “Well, I wish you the best. Family affairs can be tough, but I know it’ll work out for the both of you.”

“Thank you Henry.” Dawn smiled. “I really appreciate it.”

\------------------------------------------

Hours had past and it was well into a freezing, dark midnight. Marilyn, Angelica and Patrick sat bundled in furs inside the carriage, avoiding most of the carnage of the storm that was outside. The only thing that was fearful for them was the occasional rattling of the carriage from the harsh storms and they did worry how Dawn and Henry fared outside.

Dawn and Henry were grateful for the Inquisition soldiers’ advice on getting more furs because without them they wouldn’t have made it this far. Although their hands and faces were still freezing a great deal, their new wears made traveling in the storm more bearable. All around them was a dark abyss, the only thing lighting the path forward being the dimly lit jewel on the top of Dawn’s staff and the lantern Henry held in his left hand. The combined efforts of both of them only provided them with a couple feet of visible light to see the path. Beyond the freezing and visual problems, the two of them also experienced hearing problems. Although the two of them were right next to each other, the winds of the blizzard dominated all sound within the area. They had to yell at each other for any communication to be heard and it certainly put strain on the two’s voices.

After another half an hour, the oil in Henry’s lantern was fully depleted and the visible passage ahead disappeared, saved from the light from Dawn’s staff. Reigning in the horses to a stop, he stepped down from the carriage to grab the container that held more oil, while Dawn stepped down to check on the horses’ wellbeing. For the most part, the horses seemed fine with the snow on top of their hides not bothering them in the slightest. Stomping through the snow to approach their faces however, she noticed that ice crystals were forming over their eyes and noses. She worked gently to chip them off the steeds and they nayed in thanks. Once she was done, she saw that Henry was already back up on the carriage with a newly filled lantern waiting patiently for her to return. 

“It looks like the snowfall is dying down!” Henry yelled. “We’ll travel for an hour more and then set up camp in a safer location!”

“Sounds good!” Dawn agreed, stepping up back on the carriage.

As Henry started to guide the horses again, they were met by echoing howls. Dawn and Henry looked at each other briefly while the horses started getting a little jumpy.

“It sounds far away.” Henry concluded. “Maybe we’ll lose them if we keep pushing forward, but keep your eyes open.”

Dawn nodded and kept a strong grip on her staff.

\--------------------------------------

Keeping very strict to their schedule, Henry stopped their carriage in its tracks. They were well out of the harsh winds of the blizzard and only a few snowflakes gracefully fell to the ground. More importantly however, the howls of the wolves that had been following for the past hour stopped over an half an hour ago, but they still remained prepared for an attack. It took the combined efforts of both Henry and Dawn to finish the campsite within fifteen minutes. After making sure the horses and Henry’s family was okay, Dawn worked to start a campfire. As she started summoning mana to make one, she stopped in her tracks and heard something.

The wolf howls started again, this time closer than before.

Quickly hurrying to defend themselves, Dawn rushed over to the tent where Marilyn, Angelica, and Patrick resided and told them to stay inside the tent while they dealt with the incoming threat. After successfully closing the tent flaps, Henry approached Dawn and told her to stay near the tent as he ran towards the outer edges of the campsite, hoping to draw away attention from the tent when the wolves eventually approached. Dawn conjured up a small portion of mana to fashion a shield around the tent.

For several more moments, the wolves' howls approach closer and closer causing both Henry and Dawn to shiver with caution. They were at a slight disadvantage because of the foggy environment but they remain attentive.

Eventually the howls stopped.

Approaching from the white terrain came vicious green eyes. Dawn managed to catch three wolves while Henry caught another three. Slowly conjuring mana from the Fade, Dawn's staff became a faint beacon in the dark while Henry clanked his sword and shield together keeping the attention of his three wolves. The wolves snarled at the two defenders but still remained in the shadows. A cold tension arose from the two sides, both staring at each other without flinching and both determined to win. After the standoff, Henry finally gave a large war cry that echoed through the wind causing the wolves to rush after them.

Releasing some of her mana in the form of a spirit bolt, Dawn managed to shoot one of her wolves down before they were even a couple of feet away from her prompting the other two wolves to angrily sprint towards her. One of them tried jumping on her to slash her but she stepped to the side and whacked the wolf with her staff, dazing it. The other wolf proceeded to do the same but this time Dawn caught it and held off the beast with her staff. The wolf gnawed on the staff trying to get to Dawn's face. Summoning more mana, she released the energy in the form of a magical blast that knocked both of them back. Dawn managed to get herself back to her feet, but the wolf she faced now had magical burns across its fur. It was weak but still alive. Gathering her composure, she resumed her stance ready for the now weaker two wolves to approach her.

Henry fared well against his wolves. Much like Dawn, he managed to slice down his first wolf with relative ease and used his shield to block the jump attacks from the wolves. They viciously clawed at his wooden shield causing splints of wood to toss up into the air but he wouldn't back down. Using his splintered shield, he slammed it against one of the wolves, creating streaks of wooden splinters across its fur as it staggered back. Taking a risk, he rolled over towards the staggered wolf, simultaneously avoiding a jump attack from the other wolf, and sliced at the wolf's leg severely injuring it. The injured wolf immediately snapped back at Henry's right forearm where he held his sword, causing him to drop his weapon. Fortunately for him, the weaker wolf wasn't able to get a strong grip on his arm and bite it off as he used his freed shielded arm to repeatedly bash the weaker wolf back down into the ground. With two of his wolves down, Henry had to face his last wolf who was hot on his tail. He wasn't fast enough to avoid the oncoming attack and was lunged on by the wolf to the ground, dropping his sword. The beast viciously gnawed at the down man, the only thing keeping him from death being his shield arm protecting him from getting his neck ripped out. Warm and disgusting saliva dripped on his face stinging his eyes as he desperately reached around for his sword. Hearing the breaking creaks of his shield from the pressure of the wolf, he started panicking and reaching out for his sword more rapidly until he felt cold steel. Guiding his hand along the steel to the sword's grip, he grabbed the sword and slammed it across the wolves slide causing it to move off him in a whimper. Lifting himself from the ground, he finished off the beast by impaling the weak beast through the heart. After successfully finishing his wolves, he wiped off the saliva from his eyes and looked over at Dawn who was now facing her last wolf after sending a lightning bolt to one of her last two wolves' heads.

With two of her wolves down, Dawn and her last wolf circled each other for one last time. Not taking a moment longer, the wolf ran towards her with ferocious speed. With little pieces of what remained of her mana, she released several arcane bolts at the wolf which the wolf easily dodged, given that Dawn was a little exhausted from the fight and the energy it took to keep up the barrier around the tent. If she didn't stop the wolf now, she would be its dinner. Summoning what little mana she had left, she created a lightning-based aura around the tip of her staff. Initially she was going to release it at the charging wolf, but she decided to do something riskier for the sake of increasing her accuracy. Waiting for the wolf to lung at her, she thrusted her staff at the wolf's chest causing a huge electrical surge to go between the two them. After a couple of seconds, the surge stopped and both of them fell to the ground. Henry rushed over to Dawn's side to see that she was still alive, but extremely weak while the wolf that she fought was dead on the ground. Lifting her up from the ground, the two smiled at each other.

"Glad to see you're still alive." Henry smiled.

"Same to you" Dawn returned.

Gathering her bearings, Dawn started walking back over to the tent while Henry followed closed behind. Not long after, Henry heard thumping behind him and turned around to see one last wolf lunging at them. Henry couldn't react in time and both he and Dawn crashed to the ground after the wolf successfully lunged past them. Eyeing the obviously fatigued Dawn, this larger wolf went over to her and slashed her across her chest and abdomen with its huge, sharp claws. Dawn released a piercing loud scream of pain as the wolf continued to viciously assault her. She felt herself losing consciousness from her injuries and was almost on the brink of death until an angry Henry came rushing at the beast and slicing the alpha wolf's side. The wolf back off of Dawn, only slightly fazed by Henry's attack. In retaliation, the alpha rushed after Henry and lunged at him, this time using its claws to slash at Henry's shield arm. Because of his shield, Henry fortunately avoided a fatal attack but the attack still broke his shield and created scratches across his arm. He grunted but was still capable of fighting, the rage inside fueling him. He wasn't only fighting for his life and the lives of his family, but he was also fighting for Dawn's. Henry stood his ground with only his sword in hand as the wolf came back around for one more lunge. Gritting his teeth, he ducked as the wolf jumped over his head allowing him to slash its belly causing the great beast to fall with a great thump. Henry looked behind to see that the beast was still alive, but seemingly couldn't get on its feet. Limping over to the beast he was ready to impale his sword into the beast's head, but the cunning wolf snapped at the man, getting a good grip on his sword arm. Henry screamed in rage as his sword fell on the snowy ground. The wolf tugged at his arm trying to tear it off. Desperate, he used his free arm to repeatedly punch the wolf across the face. The wolf was stubborn and only bit down harder on his arm causing him to scream more, but Henry was even more stubborn. He got more aggressive with his punching and finished off by pressing down on the beast's eyes. The wolf whimpered and let go of Henry's sword arm, prompting Henry to quickly grab his sword and impale the blade into the beast's head. With the beast dead, Henry weak and tired turned to the unconscious Dawn and approached her slowly, whispering.

"Dawn..."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Worried about what was happening outside and the fact that the barrier that Dawn put up was slowly disappearing, Angelica tried peeking her head outside of the tent prompting Marilyn to scold her. However before Angelica could get a single sight outside of the tent, she was met by a bloodied Henry and unconscious Dawn. Henry urged them to make a space for Dawn to attend to her wounds and asked Marilyn if she could bring some bandages to aid her. While Marilyn scurried through their bags to find the medical kit, Angelica asked what happened.

"The alpha wolf got to her." Henry concisely said.

"She's losing a lot of blood." Marilyn informed, bringing what remained of their bandages. "They won't do much."

"Then we try our best!" Henry said, determined.

Marilyn nodded in agreement and started giving orders. Henry applied pressure to her wounds to slow down the blood loss while Marilyn adjusted the unconscious patient's head. Angelica watched as they did this for several minutes slowly seeing the hope from their faces and actual tears starting to form in her father's eyes. She looked at her younger brother in the corner, as he covered his face and whimpered. She started to panic herself, sweat falling down her face. Is this how the truth had to come out?

"It doesn't matter what my father thinks of me." she thought to herself. "Dawn needs my help."

Approaching her parents as they desperately continued to try to save her, she looked at her mother first who was confused by what she was trying to do and then her father who she met his tears with her own.

"I can help her." she told them.

"What? How?" Henry questioned.

Not answering his question, Angelica began to summon mana from the Fade in the form of a light blue aura. Both her parents looked at her in shock as she hovered her magic powered hands over Dawn's wounds. Even Patrick finally rose from his isolation and moved towards the healing.

"Like the waves of the sea." she whispered to herself. "Push and pull".

Swaying her hands back and forth, her healing magic seeped into the wounds of Dawn. After a couple of seconds, Dawn's wounds stopped bleeding; the wounds themself were a different story. Groaning at the amount of effort she had to give to only slightly close some of the gashes, she felt herself getting weaker and her access to the Fade slowly slipping from her grasp. But no matter how much it pained her, she knew she had to save Dawn. It was the least she could do. Using the last of her magic, she summoned a healing wisp which shocked the family once again.

"We don't have much...time." Angelica groaned.

The wisp understanding started creating a circular motion around Dawn's wounds which helped seal up some of the bigger gashes close enough to the point where stitches could finish the job.  After doing this to all of the big gashes, the spirit dissipated into thin air and a weak Angelica fell to the ground alongside the still unconscious Dawn.

"Angelica." Henry softly said as he grabbed her head before it hit the ground.

"Did I...did I save her?" she weakly asked.

Looking over to Dawn, he touched the side of her neck and felt a steady pulse as well as saw her breathing returning to a normal rate. Nodding back at Angelica, she gave a faint smile.

"Good." she said.

Touching her father's arm, she softly whispered.

"I'm sorry."

A couple of seconds later, she herself fell unconscious.

Henry backed into a corner and placed his hands on his head. He was appalled.

**"My daughter is a mage." he whispered.**


	13. Chapter 13

It stung her eyes to wake up to a bright light and something stung fierce near her lower abdomen. Slowly reaching down, she touched the area where she had violently been slashed the previous night and saw that the wound was nearly healed with a couple of stitches in closing the smaller gashes. How, she wondered. Before she could start speculating the “worse”, she was interrupted by Patrick who approached her with skepticism.

“Dawn?” Patrick questioned, seeing her move around. “Mother, Angelica, she’s awake!”

Patrick restlessly snapped the two ladies out of their half-sleeping states but as soon as what Patrick was saying finally dawned upon them, they snapped out of it and rushed to their protector’s side.

“Thank the Maker, you’re awake.” Marilyn smiled.

“Yes thank the Maker indeed.” Dawn sighed with relief. “But...how, these stitches wouldn’t have been enough?”

“I healed you...with my magic.” Angelica revealed.

Dawn looked at Angelica with regretful eyes. She knew that her young apprentice didn’t want her family to know like this and now she felt entirely responsible for how her family might feel about her, especially her father.

“Oh Angelica…”

“It’s okay.” Angelica said with a shy smile. “I couldn’t let you die, especially after you and father fought to save us and especially knowing that I had the power to help you.”

Dawn reluctantly faced Marilyn and tried speaking to apologize for keeping everything a secret, but before she could speak, Marilyn stopped her.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Marilyn assured. “Angelica explained everything. We are grateful that you took it upon yourself to teach her about her magical abilities.”

“Yeah!” Patrick cheered. “Father made it seem like magic was scary, but you and Angelica made it look pretty and not so scary.”

Dawn smiled with some relief, after surely expecting to get kicked to the wilderness due to this revelation, but she soon found that she wasn’t totally in the clear. Patrick had reminded her that there was still one person that she hadn’t seen since she woke up.

“Where is Henry?” Dawn asked.

“He’s...outside.” Marilyn revealed. “He’s been out there since the sunrise.”

“Okay.” Dawn nodded.

She tried to summon some mana to finish up the healing, but found herself too weak to do so. Reaching over to see the half empty lyrium potion that Angelica used to heal her, she drank the rest of it and received enough energy to complete the healing process. The three spectators in the tent looked on in fascination as they witnessed the remaining injuries heal in a matter of seconds and without struggle. Strong enough to lift herself from the comfortable floor, she started making her way out of the tent, but before she could make it out the flap, she was stopped by Marilyn.

“No matter what happens out there Dawn, know that we appreciate everything you’ve done for our family.” Marilyn smiled. “You’ve fought for us, we’ll fight for you.”

Dawn looked beyond Marilyn and saw Angelica and Patrick’s smiles of approval. Staring back at Marilyn, she gave a shy smile, trying to hold back her watering eyes. Nodding, she resumed heading back out the tent.

Outside of the tent, she noticed that the entire environment was no longer shrouded by the intense blizzard that was raging the night before. There was considerably a lot more snow, but she could see the sun glistening on the cloudy snow before her and a few birds soaring through the sky. After briefly taking in the fresh outdoors, she spotted Henry who was overlooking a valley a couple of yards ahead. She took a deep breath and exhaled, mustering all of her courage before finally taking her first steps towards him. The crunch of snow before her should’ve alerted him that she was approaching, but he didn’t turn to face her. When she finally stood next to him, she saw what he was looking at; a grand fortress in the distance that stood piercing the sky across a lengthy stone bridge.

“Skyhold.”

“...yes.” Henry softly responded. “Despite everything that happened last night, we were still on track.”

The two of them stood in silence for a moment before Dawn finally decided to speak up.

“Listen, I’m sorry I kept Angelica being a mage a secret from you, but please don’t be angry at her.” Dawn said.

“I’m not angry at Angelica.” Henry revealed. “I’m not angry at you either.”

Dawn was appalled. How could he not be angry at her? She kept this very life-changing secret from him. A secret that could ruin his life and how he saw his daughter.

“A couple years ago, I might’ve put Angelica in a Circle as soon as I found out she was a mage. She would’ve been able to learn about her magic and the templars would’ve protected her from herself and others, but now that option is no longer truly feasible.”

Dawn nodded in silence.

“But all hope for her being protected isn’t lost.” Henry continued.

Dawn looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ve thought long about it and I’ve come to a decision.” he said. “I saw how she healed you, like how you healed me. It was remarkable and elegant.”

Turning to Dawn, he solemnly bowed his head.

“I know I’ve asked enough of you, but will you please continue teaching her how to control her magic. At least for as long as you are able to? I don’t want to lose her.”

Dawn had to process what he was asking initially. She couldn’t believe that he was asking this in such an earnest manner. For the longest time, she had liken the man to her own father and had come to see a little of herself in Angelica. She feared that he wouldn’t accept her for who she was or worse, abandon her outright much like herself, but in this moment she saw that Henry had become a better father than her own father used to be. It was also in this moment that she realized that maybe the man her own father had become after 26 years was indeed better than who he was. Maybe he truly did want to make amends.

“Of course I will.” Dawn smilled.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Aurora looked around the dimly lit room and saw both templars and mages facing her with proud postures. At the center of the room stood the First Enchanter who waited patiently for her to approach him and besides her was her favorite enchanter; Enchanter Laura. It had taken two years of hard work, dedication, and realization of self-worth to get her here, the rite of passage into magehood; The Harrowing. _

_ Looking next to her, Aurora was met by a warm and confident smile from Enchanter Laura who whispered words of encouragement. Taking a deep breath, Aurora took steps towards the First Enchanter, alone, as Enchanter Laura looked on ahead. Making it to the lyrium filled altar, she was confronted by the First Enchanter who wore a serious demeanor. Clearing his throat, he proceeded to recite the words that he had gotten used to saying for the past two decades. _

_ “Apprentice Aurora-Dawn Trevelyan, you have been called upon to perform the Harrowing.” he started. “This task before you is not to test your magical capabilities, but your ability to resist temptation. This task is difficult and some have not survived, but it is completely up to you whether you continue on as a full member of the Circle or cease your magical journey here. Step forward and contact the lyrium on the altar to begin. May the Maker watch over you.” _

_ Aurora nodded her head, understanding what she had to do and slowly approached the altar. Hovering her hand over the lyrium, she felt a rush of mana flow through her body and everything around her became extremely blurry and bright. The figures around her in the room started disappearing one by one and soon enough, she was the only one in the room. _

_ Then everything went dark in an instant. _

**_When she came to, Aurora found herself in her own bed, in her own room, back at Castle Trevelyan. Sitting up from the bed, she turned her body and sat at the right edge of the bed. Looking at the vanity beside her bed, she saw that she was no longer dressed in Circle robes, but instead she wore a very fine brown and gold gown made of linen and wool. She did a small twirl and laughed as she looked at herself in the mirror. Moving away from her vanity, she continued walking around her room and went to the dresser that stood near the window that peered out to the gardens. Looking outside, she saw many flowers and plants blossom. Roses, lilies, and more, all being attended to by the Castle servants. Diverting her attention from the garden, she looked at the top of her dresser and saw a lone miniature rocking horse statuette rocking back and forth. She slowly picked up the horse and turned it upside down and saw the Trevelyan family motto engraved in the wood: Modest in Temper, Bold in Deed._ **

**_After she placed the horse down, a loud knock was heard from her door. It startled her for a moment, but what was even more startling to her were the two people who came rushing in._ **

**_“Aurora!” the both of them cheered._ **

**_“Aaron...El...Elaina?” she questioned._ **

**_“Of course it’s us.” the two of them smiled._ **

**_She could hardly believe her eyes. The two of them were really in front of her or at least some spirits posing as them. The strange thing however was that they looked much older than the seven and five years she saw the last time she saw them. Now they looked fourteen and twelve._ **

**_“Mother sent us to come get you for breakfast.” the two of them revealed._ **

**_“Mo...Mother came to get me?” she said, nearly tearing up._ **

**_“Yes!” the two confirmed. “Follow us!”_ **

**_The two of them rushed out of Aurora’s room and made a right. Not wanting to fall behind, she rushed out with them and also made a right._ **

**_“Come on sister!” the two of them laughed. “You’ll miss all the good food if you don’t hurry!”_ **

**_Aurora joined in on their laughter as she started catching up to them. The three of them running caused the servants they passed by to get momentarily startled, but they soon found themselves laughing along with the three kids. After running down the hall for a good minute, the three of them stopped before the long wide stairs that led to the dining area._ **

**_“Are you ready?” the two of them asked Aurora._ **

**_“Ready for what?” she asked._ **

**_Venturing to the other side of the stairs, the two younger siblings pulled out a large wooden board and carried it back to the center of the stair set. Placing it before the first step, they invited their older sister to join in on this new activity. Aurora laughed to herself, never having imagined that her actual siblings would ever do anything like this, especially when father was around. Shrugging and sitting on the back of the board, the two siblings cheered._ **

**_“Hold on to something!” they warned._ **

**_Leaning forward, the board started declining down the stairs and the three of them soon found themselves on a bumpy, fast ride. At first, Aurora feared that they would get hurt but after seeing her younger siblings laugh, she couldn’t help but to forget her worries and just enjoy the moment._ **

**_As soon as the board hit the bottom of the stairs, it guided the three of them to the dining table which was full of food. Aaron and Elaina ran to their seats while Aurora was mesmerized by the breakfast that was before her. Fluffy scrambled eggs steamed with freshness as well as bronze sausage. There was a stack of toast that looked taller than herself and fresh glasses of milk sat next to every plate. Each dish was served with a pile of fruits, ranging from strawberries to kiwis._ **

**_Aaron and Elaina found themselves getting impatient and started digging in before Aurora could find her seat. As she grabbed the top of her seat, ready to sit down, she was stopped in her tracks when she heard the voice of someone she never thought she would hear again._ **

**_“Oh, looks like Aaron and Elaina were able to get you up with no problem.” the voice said._ **

**_Aurora slowly turned and was met by a tall woman._ **

**_It was her mother._ **

**_“Mother?” Aurora questioned._ **

**_“Yes, sweetheart.” her mother replied. “It is me.”_ **

**_Aurora ran up to her mother and tightly embraced her as tears started falling from her eyes. Lady Trevelyan was shocked by the tight hug but she gladly returned it with the same strength._ **

**_“I thought I would never see you again.” Aurora cried._ **

**_“I am here now.” she assured. “As are the rest of us.”_ **

**_After the two of them reluctantly broke away from their hug, Lady Trevelyan guided Aurora back to her seat. Shortly after, Lady Trevelyan found her seat and the two of them joined in on the feast with Aaron and Elaina. Taking her first bite out of a piece of toast, Aurora found herself enraptured by the taste. It was the best slice of toast she had ever had in her entire life and she was very eager to try the other food. Switching over to the eggs and sausage, she cut them with her knife and fork and took a huge bite. She found it unbelievable how quickly it melted in her mouth. Reaching across the table to grab some fruit, a servant quickly approached lifting it from the table and placing it in front of her with a smile. She joyously grabbed a few strawberries and banana slices and ate them and used the milk which was perfectly chilled to wash the food down. Taking a break, she realized that her entire plate was now empty but she was still hungry. Before she could say anything however, the servants were quick to gather more food and place it on her empty plate causing her to smile uncontrollably._ **

**_This was everything she could’ve hoped for._ **

**_Halfway through her second plate, she finally noticed something strange. Across from her next to her mother was a full plate of food with an empty seat. It was only then that she realized that her father was missing._ **

**_“Where is father?” Aurora asked._ **

**_“Your father should be returning home soon from business with the Chantry.” Lady Trevelyan explained._ **

**_Shortly after, the servants began lining up near the main doors of the Castle. Once they finished lining up, the two doors opened with a loud cacophonous sound that startled Aurora. From the looks of it, it seemed like an unholy evil would enter the Castle with a cold wind suddenly breezing into the home. Loud slow footsteps started echoing throughout the Castle and Aurora wasn’t sure how she should react, but a moment later they ceased and she was presented with the person who was making them._ **

**_“Father?” she questioned._ **

**_Bann Trevelyan turned his attention to his eldest daughter. At first his expression was blank, but suddenly in turn into a great grin._ **

**_“Aurora!” he cheered._ **

**_Bursting into a small jog, he approached her and gave her a really tight hug, one that was even tighter than the one she gave her mother._ **

**_“I’m so glad to see you!” he said kissing her forehead._ **

**_After greeting Aurora, he went around the table and individually hugged and kissed the rest of the family before finally taking his seat. Her father immediately dug into his food with the same amount of zeal that she had, completely tossing out any food etiquette that he was known for teaching. It equally shocked her and amused her seeing her father who was known for being very conservative and strict give out a loud inappropriate burp._ **

**_After finishing his breakfast, Lady Trevelyan asked him about his trip to the Chantry._ **

**_“Oh it was amazing darling!” Bann Trevelyan happily answered. “They actually asked about Aurora._ **

**_“They asked about...me?” Aurora questioned._ **

**_“Yes, they asked about your magic.” he explained. “Even though I fought for you to stay with us instead of going to the Circle, they still are worried, but I don’t care what they think. You are my daughter and I’ll always be proud of the woman you are growing up to be.”_ **

**_“I…” Aurora started._ **

**_She couldn’t believe the words she was hearing out of her father’s mouth. It was unbelievable and...truly disturbing._ **

**_“Stop…” she continued._ **

**_“I’m sorry?” Bann Trevelyan asked._ **

**_“I said stop!” she yelled._ **

**_The yell boomed around the entire Castle, similar to the opening of the main doors. The echo caused everyone around her to get startled. Everyone from the servants, Aaron, Elaina and Bann Trevelyan looked at Lady Trevelyan for guidance. She simply sighed and finally spoke up._ **

**_“Leave us...please.” she said._ **

**_One by one, Aurora witnessed everyone around her disappear, all except Lady Trevelyan. The entire Castle around them started crumbling around them, but as the debris landed on the two of them it did nothing. Once the dust was settled, Aurora and Lady Trevelyan found themselves on a lone floating island, the only thing within sight being the green hazing atmosphere of the Fade and the Black City above them. Not sure what to expect next, Aurora stood before Lady Trevelyan, not in a defensive stance, but Lady Trevelyan simply returned with an innocent smile._ **

**_“Why did you end it?” she curiously asked._ **

**_“Because...it wasn’t real.” Aurora answered. “No matter how much I wanted to believe it was.”_ **

**_“What’s real or not here is subjective.” Lady Trevelyan replied._ **

**_Aurora’s gaze diverted downwards from Lady Trevelyan causing her to go curious. Slowly approaching her daughter, she reluctantly placed a hand on her left shoulder. Aurora started sniffling._ **

**_“Why are you denying the gift that I am giving you?” Lady Trevelyan asked. “What life is there in being trapped in the Circle?”_ **

**_“A couple years ago I might’ve agreed with you.” Aurora spoke. “Even now, I struggle to believe that there is a decent life in the Circle.”_ **

**_Aurora lifted her head back up and faced Lady Trevelyan._ **

**_“But she wouldn’t want me to stay here.” Aurora continued. “She would want me to be proud of the life I have now and use my gifts for good. I can’t give up knowing that there may still be a future out there for me.”_ **

**_Lady Trevelyan smiled._ **

**_“Then I wish you luck Aurora.” Lady Trevelyan said, hugging her._ **

**_The Fade around them started getting brighter and an ear piercing sound started, but none of that mattered to Aurora now._ **

**_“I believe I will see her again someday.” Aurora smiled._ **

**_“I believe you will too.” Lady Trevelyan agreed._ **

**_\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_ **

_ Waking up on the cold floor, Aurora groaned and shook her head. Her eyesight was still a little blurry, but she saw two robbed figures walking towards her. Both of the figures helped her to her feet and as her vision returned, she recognized the two as the First Enchanter and Enchanter Laura. The First Enchanter wore a modest smile while Enchanter Laura couldn’t hold in her excitement. _

_ “Congratulations Aurora!” she said hugging her student. _

_ “You are officially a Mage of the Circle of Magi.” the First Enchanter informed. _

**_Even though Aurora found herself proud of this great achievement and actively celebrated with her mentor, she couldn’t help but think about what she experienced and what she may have left behind._ **


	14. Chapter 14

Continuing along the path that the Inquisition soldiers informed them about, Dawn and the family were able to reach Skyhold the following morning. Fortunately for them, they were able to avoid any conflicts with the wild animals residing in the mountain range and the blizzard was confirmed to be a thing of the past. Because of this, they were able to fully admire the views that the environment provided. Dawn wondered how her brother thought of these mountains. Surely he would have to travel them many times throughout the year because of how busy he was. It must have been incredible to see this beautiful snowy wonderland so often.

When they finally approached the long bridge that led to the Inquisition’s headquarters, Dawn gave a huge sigh of relief. Henry looked over at her and laughed. He knew how much she wanted to get here and to see her happy now that they were, it was truly a sight to see.

“Truth be told, I’m glad we’re finally here as well.” Henry said as he started steering the horses across the bridge. “This journey was a huge risk indeed, but the Maker had his glorious gaze on us.”

“Yes He did.” Dawn smiled. “I never really felt safe until we finally reached Haven, but looking at this place...we wouldn’t even have to worry about anything.”

“Yes, we can finally rest.” Henry replied. “And Marilyn and I don’t have to fear losing our unborn child here.”

“Yes, a new beginning for us all here.” Dawn laughed.

After a good seven minutes of traveling down the bridge, Dawn and the family were greeted by a group of four soldiers who halted their progress before the gate. They slowly approached the carriage, but nothing in their presence screamed hostility.

“Greetings traveler.” one of the soldiers spoke. “What brings you to Skyhold?”

“We attended the Haven Memorial service as Andrastian pilgrims and now we journey here for my wife.” Henry explained. “She is pregnant and only has a few months left before our child is born.”

“Congratulations.” the soldier said smiling. “Would you mind if we check your carriage?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Henry allowed. 

Going to the side of the carriage, the soldiers slowly opened it and were revealed to a smiling Marilyn, Angelica, and Patrick. The soldiers returned with smiles of their own and after thoroughly checking the carriage, gently closed its doors. After checking the carriage thoroughly, the soldiers deemed them safe to enter Skyhold and one of the soldiers guided them towards the fortress as the other three moved ahead to check another approaching traveler. The closer they moved down the bridge, the more intimidating and ancient the fortress appeared, but in their hearts, Dawn and the family knew that there was nothing to worry about. When they were about a 100 feet away from the entrance of the fortress, the giant gate started lifting in a large cacophonous sound that caused Angelica and Patrick to cover their ears. Once the gate was fully lifted, the escorting soldier and the family carriage moved beyond the snowy exterior that was spotted for miles in the Frostback Mountains; now they seemed to be in a lively oasis. Dawn looked around at the beautiful and colorful trees and leaves, smelled the wonderful scent of broth and woodwork, and felt a less harsh breeze dance across her face. Henry also found it hard not to be mesmerized by this new environment and nearly forgot to turn right where the escort was taking them. After another minute of following the escort, they had finally arrived at the stables, where the sites were just as wonderful, but the smell wasn’t as great.

As soon as the carriage was parked, Angelica and Patrick wasted no time jumping out of it and immediately started playing with the late autumn leaves scattered across the ground. Henry and the soldier escort went to work helping Marilyn out of the carriage as Dawn stepped down from the carriage herself. A moment after everyone was settled, an elven Inquisition representative appeared in front of Henry and Marilyn wearing a nice set of formal attire that was crimson in color. He wanted to discuss accomodations with Henry and Marilyn and since Angelica and Patrick were still happily playing around, Dawn decided to wander over to the stables where the other horses were being kept.

As she walked down the aisles, she tried her hand at trying to name the different breeds. She was never really a big horse fan, but her father was and she had vague memories of him taking her out to the stables and playing with them. She managed to correctly guess about half of them before she finally stumbled across a very familiar breed of horse that the Inquisition's Horsemaster was taking care of.

“That’s a Free Marches Ranger, isn’t it?” Dawn questione with a chuckle. “That white mane and oat colored hind isn’t mistakable. These are one of my father’s favorite breeds.”

“You know your horses!” Horsemaster Dennet responded in between the strokes of the stallion’s mane. “His name is Shiloh.”

“Hi there Shiloh.” Dawn smiled as she caressed her hand across Shiloh’s neck.

The stallion took an instant liking into Dawn and gently rubbed his head against her causing her to laugh. She hadn’t done this with a Free Marches Ranger in decades.

“Shiloh really likes you.” a voice called out with laughter from behind. “He’s a good horse, but he’s usually shy around people that aren’t me or Horsemaster Dennet.”

Horsemaster Dennet turned around and immediately bowed and as Dawn slowly turned around as well, she quickly and clumsily bowed as well.

“Herald.” Horsemaster Dennet smiled.

“...Herald.” Dawn hesitated.

The two of them brought their heads up after the bow, though Dawn’s still kept hers slightly lower to avoid the direct gaze of the Herald.

Leo Trevelyan, the Inquisitor, wore a nice, dark green, leather vanguard coat that hid a small layer of golden armor underneath. His dark locs were nicely flowing and shiny, which Dawn knew for their hairstyle would take at least an hour to get like that. Through her gaze, Dawn could see just how tall her baby brother actually was though he was only a couple inches taller than herself. Horsemaster Dennet returned to Shiloh and started opening up his stable as Dawn also turned from the Inquisitor to face the stallion.

“How’s Shiloh doing?” Leo asked.

“Healthy as ever.” Horsemaster Dennet assured. “He’s definitely eager to go out for a ride.”

“Don’t worry buddy, we’re heading out right now.” Leo said, smiling at his horse as he grabbed the reins.

After a few seconds of rubbing Shiloh’s mane, Leo turned to Dawn and started speaking.

“Dear Maker, I apologize for being rude.” Leo chuckled. “I’m not sure we met before but a friend of Shiloh’s is a friend of mine. You can call me Leo.”

Dawn struggled to lift her head to directly meet her brother’s gaze, but after a second or two of small, quiet breaths, she lifted her head all the way and introduced herself.

“My name is Dawn.” she nervously smiled. “Nice to meet you Leo.”

Leo was completely shocked to see the full face of this woman before him. He nearly stumbled back against Shiloh, but collected his composure. At the same time, Dawn wanted so badly to lower her head again, but she felt it would be too suspicious.

“...sorry about that.” Leo apologized once again. “It’s just that...you look so much like someone...I used to know.”

“It’s okay, Your Worship.” Dawn nervously laughed.

“At any rate Dawn.” Leo said, clearing his throat. “It was nice to meet you and if you need anything while you are staying here at Skyhold, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, Leo...I uh Your Worship.” Dawn bowed.

“Leo’s fine.” Leo laughed as he climbed on top of Shiloh.”

After taking a moment to adjust himself on Shiloh, Leo grabbed the reins and encouraged Shiloh into a trot towards Skyhold’s main entrance though the face of Dawn stuck in his mind. Dawn on the other hand was completely excited to have met her brother face-to-face for the first time, despite the awkwardness.

**“That went...well.” she sighed to herself.**


	15. Chapter 15

It didn't take long for Dawn and the family to settle in. Keeping their promise, the Inquisition provided comfortable accommodations for them, especially Marilyn. They were given a queen size bed and two nice and warm wool sleeping bags. Henry and Dawn agreed to use the sleeping bags while Angelica and Patrick shared the spacious bed with their mother. These accommodations were way better than any of them had in weeks, a warm room kept cosy by the constantly burning firewood that also made the room smell like cooked apples and an abundant source of better than decent food, but the noise levels were the same if not worse. Back when they were camping on the road and villages, the noise of people and nature were largely carried off by the winds, but now they were in an enclosed giant room with several other pilgrims who also arrived earlier.

After multiple failed attempts at trying to wind down and relax, Dawn gave up and decided to take a step outside. She informed the family that she would be back in a couple of hours, explaining specifically to Henry and Marilyn that she needed some fresh air. They completely understood and decided to stay in the room despite the rowdiness. Once she stepped outside, she felt a rush of crisp air causing her to smile. Despite being outside the room, she could still smell the baked apples but the longer she stayed she realized that she started to smell something else.

Beer.

Although she was never really a beer person, after such a long and tumultuous trip some wine would be nice, along with some fresh peanuts. Walking over to a nearby Inquisition soldier, she asked where the source of the beer smell came from. She told Dawn that Skyhold had its very own tavern, The Herald's Rest and proceeded to give her directions to the building. After thanking the soldier, Dawn made her way down the stairs towards the location of the tavern with a big grin on her face. After finding the building, the smell of beer became more potent and the noise inside the tavern was tremendous. She groaned at having to go into another loud place, but she really wanted that drink so taking a deep breath, she took her first step inside.

Inside the tavern she couldn't have imagined how roudy it would actually be. Well actually, it was really only rowdy in the far wall ahead where most of the bar patrons were celebrating and drinking over...something. At the center of the rowdy crowd was a giant grey Qunari male with an eye patch covering his left eye. He was seriously downing every drink that came his way and Dawn wondered how the man could still stand on his two feet. What were they celebrating anyway she wondered.

Making her way over to the bar counter, she took a seat in one of the many bar stools and waited to be served. Approaching from the kitchen, the dwarven bartender approached her while cleaning a drinking glass and placed the glass in front of her.

"You must be new here." the bartender started. "Name's Cabot if you care to know."

"Hello." Dawn greeted. "My name is Dawn."

"Looking to be a regular here?" the bartender asked. "It'll be easier on me to know what you want each time you come here."

"No, I only plan on staying here at Skyhold for a few more days."Dawn answered. "But I would like a glass of red wine if you have any."

“I'll see what I can do." Cabot said.

"Oh, can I also get a bowl of peanuts as well?" she asked.

Cabot nodded his head and went back to the kitchen for her order. As she waited, she turned around in her seat and watched the rowdy group of people. The giant qunari man was finally slowing down and could barely stand on his own two feet. She wondered how many drinks it took to take down such a big man, but it was certainly entertaining seeing the other patrons in his party try to help him to his seat. As she looked over to the quieter other side of the room, she saw a familiar face; the face of her younger brother. It was strange, despite his high status, he had only received a couple of smiles and nods from the other patrons as he took a seat in one of the corner tables. He looked over at the bar counter trying to see if Cabot was there and almost caught the gaze of Dawn. Dawn, not wanting to make awkward eye contact with him so soon after the last, she turned around in her seat and lowered her head. She started getting nervous and small beads of sweat started dripping from her forehead. A minute later, Cabot returned with her order, but she barely noticed until he spoke up.

"Here's your order Dawn." Cabot said. "Y'know, you're probably one of the few people here that actually likes peanuts."

"It was definitely...an acquired taste for me." Dawn laughed.

Laughing with Dawn, his peripheral vision saw a hand waving over to him. Looking over, he saw that it was the Inquisitor waving, signaling that he was here.

"Oh good, the Inquisitor is here." Cabot said. "Started his meal up some minutes ago."

"Does he come here often?" Dawn questioned, still not trying to face him.

"I wouldn't say he's an everyday regular." Cabot explained. "Most of the time he's traveling between Ferelden and Orlais, but when he comes back he makes sure to catch a break here at the Herald's Rest. To spend time with his loved one."

"His loved one?" Dawn questioned slowly turning around.

She saw her brother standing up from his seat and greeting a young woman. If she remembered correctly, the woman was the Ambassador of the Inquisition, instantly recognizing the golden Antivan dress from the Memorial Ceremony. Her younger brother gently grabbed the Antivan woman's hand and guided her to her seat across from him.

Dawn thought the spectacle was so adorable. Although the two of them were full grown adults, it was still cute to see the little mannerisms they would do such as him kissing her hand, her getting excited to talk about her day and them praying together before eating their meals.

“Young love.” she said, reminiscing.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

_It had been one month since her Harrowing yet the event kept replaying in her mind; images of her home, her family, her mother. Not for one moment did she regret not staying in the dream that was shown to her, but at the same time she did miss the brief bliss she felt at the time. It was certainly a moment of bliss she never experienced again since she became a full-fledged mage. All she could do now was distract herself from such memories by attending classes, keeping up with her studies and reading...so much reading._

_Since her enrollment into the School of Creation three weeks ago, she had been very ahead of her studies which caused the other beginner mages to envy her and not interact with her. Slowly but surely she had accepted that none of her fellow peers would want to be friends with her and she was totally fine with that revelation. A shame truly, she really thought that things would be different regarding her social life after becoming a full-fledged mage._

_Returning to her reading, she stuffed her face into the book and tried drowning out the noise of the dining hall. She heard people exchange quiet rumors about her, sometimes she heard people complaining about a certain enchanter. Groaning, she laid her head down and looked around at her fellow peers. She saw that almost everyone in the dining hall was sitting with someone having a blast, not thinking one second of their classes. Even the mages that sat by themselves didn't seem as tormented in the soul as she did and gladly ate their meals. Meanwhile, she was one of the few people who had their faces stuffed in books and she really only did it to distract herself from her Harrowing. She started to truly wonder how all these mages, some of whom took their Harrowing a little bit before or after her were able to be so...happy. Surely their Harrowing was just a traumatizing right?_

_She started to envy them._

_After looking at the others for a couple of minutes, she sighed and opened up her textbook again, but before she could read a single word, she was met by a looming shadow to the side of her. Looking up, she was met by a young man who looked about her age holding a bowl of peanuts. He proceeded to pass by her without saying a word and confidently took a seat directly in front of her across the small, round table. She looked this bold young man up and down and simply ignored him, returning back to her reading. For a couple seconds, there was only silence between the two of them but eventually the young man fished through his peanut bowl and grabbed one. Cracking it open, he tossed the peanut into the air and caught it in his mouth._

_"I remember it like it was yesterday." the young man started. "I found myself right outside in the icy, white winter of this warm, wooden home with two round, small windows. One of the windows shone incredibly bright from a candle light inside while the other window dimly showed the remainder of the light. I don't know what enticed me to go inside the home first, the warmth I could feel emitting from the place or the smell of freshly cooked dinner. After all, I was so used to fighting cats for food scraps and living in alleys._

_Dawn looked up from her book with a raised eyebrow._

_"I ran straight to the door, not wanting to wait any longer only to find out that the door was very much unlocked." he continued. "I stumbled in falling onto the floor, startling the woman who was there cooking the dinner. I repeatedly tried apologizing to the lady, but she simply laughed and helped me up to my feet. 'My dear, you looked awfully cold and hungry, would you like to stay here tonight?' she asked. Without a second thought, I said yes and she escorted me to a seat at the dinner table. You honestly wouldn't believe me if I told you, the dinner table had everything you could possibly imagine. It had roasted lamb, the finest cheeses from Orlais, or so I've heard, aged grape wine, you name it. Eager, I took my first bite of that roasted lamb and my friend, I nearly died from happiness."_

_Dawn gave a small chuckle and slowly placed her book down as he continued his story._

_"After eating my first plate of food, I was eager to continue onto my next. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. For all I knew, after tomorrow morning I was going to be back out on the road but surprisingly the lady stopped me. 'Hold on young man. We have another guest coming very soon.' she said. Grateful as I was, I sighed at having to wait for another plate, but after a minute the front door opened, way more softly than it did when I came in and there I was introduced to a man not that much older than I am right now."_

_"He was my brother."_

_Dawn was fully attentive to the young man's story now._

_"And that's how I knew none of it was real. I remember seeing my brother get hanged for stealing bread and I wanted out. I didn't want to be tormented as much as it was a joy to see him. Goodbye warm house, goodbye wonderful food...goodbye big brother. I didn't even get to talk to him before it was all over."_

_"Your story, it was about your Harrowing wasn't it?" Dawn asked._

_"Yes, a Harrowing that happened over six months ago yet I remember it like it was...yesterday." the young man answered. "I'm sure you've felt the same about yours."_

_"Yes..." Dawn softly admitted. "How did you ever get over yours?"_

_"Oh my friend." the young man laughed. "I've never really gotten over it. I don't think anyone ever does. The best we can do is cope with it."_

_"Well how did you cope with yours?" Dawn desperately asked._

_"I talk to people about it." the young man revealed. "I talk to friends about it and we help each other out."_

_"Easy for you to say." Dawn scoffed. "I don't have any friends."_

_"Well, we can be friends." he smiled._

_"You barely know me." Dawn said, crossing her arms._

_"Doesn't mean we can't start a friendship." he laughed._

_Dawn blushed._

_"My name is Elias, School of Primal because fire was my best friend during cold nights outside._

_And you are?"_

_"My name is Dawn, School of Creation because I don't want anything to do with fire."_

_"See that's the spirit!" Elias cheered, passing her the bowl of peanuts. "Well, would you like to tell me about your Harrowing Dawn?"_

_Was this young mage serious? Did he actually want to hear about her Harrowing? Although she was shocked, it was actually kind of...thoughtful. She didn't know where to start but it couldn't hurt telling him. After all, he had just finished telling her about his._

**_"Yes." Dawn smiled, taking a peanut._**


	16. Chapter 16

Leo found himself wandering a nebulous land. Although he couldn’t really see anything tangible around him, there was a force that made him feel...safe. As he continued walking ahead to what seemed to be nothing, the environment around him started taking form. Trees, flowers and vines started blooming around him one by one until he found himself in a beautiful and lush meadow. He watched as small birds flew overhead and laughed as small water droplets from the trees’ leaves plopped on his forehead. He continued walking towards the center of the meadow where a lone, small pond was situated. Arriving at the pond, he knelt and looked down at the clear water. Taking a deep breath, he placed a finger in the pond, causing it to ripple. As he watched intensively, his reflection became distorted and he started to hear a faint voice call out to him.

“Leo.” the soft voice repeated.

He quickly turned around to find where the source of the voice was coming to no avail. The voice once again spoke but this time, it was clearer and in front of him. Looking back into the pond, he found the origin of the voice in the form of the reflection in the water. It wasn’t his reflection however, instead it was the image of his mother.

“Mother?” he questioned, reaching for her.

At the first touch of the image of his mother, it instantly became distorted. Leo watched intensively once again as it changed into the image of someone he had only met yesterday, the image of someone who looked very similar to his mother; Dawn.

“Wha…”

Before Leo could even deduce what this dream meant, the environment around him started quickly disappearing until there was nothing left. 

Waking up from his dream, he noticed that he was sweating profusely. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he lifted himself from the bed and sat near the side edge of it. Placing his hands over his eyes, he felt a soft hand touch his back and he slightly smiled.

“Is there something bothering you, love?” Josephine asked, concerned.

“I’ll be fine.” Leo assured.

“You can talk to me Leo.” Josephine added. “Something happened yesterday that has made you tense.”

Leo did trust Josephine enough to tell her anything that was bothering him, but this wasn’t like talking about any random person he met during his travels that rubbed him the wrong way or even something like an upset stomach. This was about a woman that reminded him of his mother and that meant it was a topic about family, something he wasn’t very comfortable enough to talk about.

“I met a woman today...who looked a lot like my mother.” Leo explained with hesitation. “She had the same eyes as her. I could never forget those eyes.”

“What could that mean?” Josephine inquired.

“I don’t know.” Leo revealed. “I think the Haven Memorial just has me thinking a lot about the people I’ve lost in my life.”

“Possibly.” Josephine agreed. “What I do know is that I don’t like to see you so tense. Perhaps, we can take this small moment of serenity to just talk and get your mind off the subject.”

Lifting herself from the bed, Josephine’s feet touched the cold floor and she started walking towards the balcony doors. Leo looked at her with raised eyebrows, confused for a moment, but she soon shot him an innocent yet tempting smile causing him to follow her. As the two approached the doors, Leo grabbed one of the doors and slowly opened it. Immediately a gust of cold wintry air entered the room, causing Josephine to shiver. Leo eagerly took a step outside and looked back to see Josephine hesitant to take her first steps. Chuckling to himself, he gently grabbed her hand and quickly spun her around into his arms, causing her to laugh out loud. As the two of them walked closer to the railing, they were mesmerized to see the beautiful and green aurora borealis reigning over the Frostback Mountains.

“It’s so beautiful!” Josephine remarked in wonder.

“It is.” Leo agreed, kissing the top of her head.

The two of them stood and admired the mountains and stars for another moment, before Josephine finally spoke up.

“My dear, it has been so long since we’ve been to Val Royeaux that hasn’t been for anything Inquisition related.” she said, looking up to him.

“Maker, you’re right!” Leo realized.

“Allow me to rectify that.” Josephine chuckled. “I’ve looked at both of our schedules for the next month and it looks like we both have a free weekend two weeks from now. I was thinking that we could take that time to go to Val Royeaux and appropriately indulge ourselves with all that it has to offer: food, fashion, art, a trip to the famed University of Orlais and a nice dinner on the Miroir de la Mère.”

“Josephine.” Leo said, turning her around to face him. “All of that with you sounds lovely. Thank you.”

The two of them began kissing each other as Josephine lifted her left leg behind her. The kiss did an excellent job of warming the both of them, but even the two of them knew that nature’s winds would still win the fight.

“Leo, do you think we can go back inside and just sit in front of a fire?” Josephine asked through her shivers.

**“Way ahead of you, love.” Leo laughed as small puffs on air appeared from his mouth.**


	17. Chapter 17

Dawn stood staring out into the Frostback Mountains from the ramparts, holding a nice hot cup of jasmine tea. The steam danced in her face as she took in the afternoon sun. Besides her was the previous Grand Enchanter of the Circle, Fiona, who was nearly finished with her own cup of tea. The two of them had just finished with their meetings, Fiona with the leaders of the Inquisition and Dawn with her new students, and now had a moment to rest and catch up with each other. The two of them had developed a close friendship with each other in the past 3 months and had created a habit of catching up with each other every weekend. The friendship was so close that Dawn was comfortable enough to have told Fiona about her familial relationship with the Inquisitor. Surprisingly, Fiona readily believed her and respected her wishes not to tell the Inquisitor this secret despite how often she met with him.

“So what was the meeting about?” Dawn asked, taking a sip of her tea.

“Just another meeting about allocating some of the Inquisition’s senior mages to our forward camps all across Ferelden and Orlais” Fiona explained. “They’ll be able to mentor more of the less fortunate local mages in the proper teaching of magic.”.

“I really love this initiative.” Dawn smiled. “The Inquisition is doing great work.”

“Speaking of great work, a lot of the Inquisition’s healers are very grateful for your lessons and assistance.” Fiona remarked.

“Oh it’s nothing.” Dawn chuckled.

“Don’t downplay the worth you’ve brought Dawn.” Fiona responded. “Because of you, the Inquisition’s healers are more effective at healing more severe injuries while utilizing less mana. Your teachings has saved dozens of lives.”

Dawn stood silent as she placed her teacup in her face, though Fiona could tell that she was blushing underneath.

“Anyway my friend, I think that you should tell the Inquisitor who you really are.” Fiona continued. “He is a kind man and I’m sure he will accept you no matter what.”

Dawn thought about what Fiona said. After all, her stay here at Skyhold had only been extended by three months because she was too afraid to tell her baby brother the truth. She believed that there was validity to her fears however, especially considering both hers and his relationships with family.

“Listen Fiona, when I first arrived at Skyhold I was confident that I would be able to tell him that we were family within the first few days. But after seeing the relationships he’s made with the people here in the Inquisition...it seems like he’s found a family that he’s genuinely happy with. Who am I to ruin such a bond by reminding him of the status driven, prideful Trevelyan line?”

“Dawn…” Fiona replied. “You are none of those. You’re kind, selfless and genuine and that is what makes you different. He’ll love you as much as you love him.”

“I...thank you Fiona.” Dawn smiled.

“It’s no problem.” Fiona said, lightly touching her shoulder. “I just don’t want you to have the regret of never telling him that you’re family. You already know my _situation_.”

Before Dawn could speak up, the two of them were greeted by a panting and sweating Angelica, who had just ran up the stairs to reach Dawn.

“Dawn... _it’s time_.” she panted.

Dawn quickly glanced at Fiona and then nodded. Finishing the rest of her tea, she turned to Fiona and touched her arm.

“We’ll continue this next week my friend.” she smiled.

Fiona returned the smile and watched as Dawn and Angelica ran off together.

It took Dawn and Angelica around five minutes to get to the Inquisition's clinic. Inside, there were only a few healers and slightly more injured people, but none of them seemed to be in any intense pain. Dawn was proud to see some of the healers she had mentored following her techniques and making sure their patients were carefully tended to. As Angelica guided Dawn through the clinic, she started to hear the pants of a woman working through intense pain. Turning the corner near the far area of the clinic, Dawn was met by a non-mage medic who was glad to see her.

“She’s ready.” the medic said, pulling back a curtain.

Behind the curtain was Marilyn who was in a bed, with Henry and Patrick standing by her side holding her hand. The three of them were glad to see Dawn, though Marilyn occasionally winced in between her smile. Dawn touched Marilyn’s arm and gave her a warm smile before turning back to the medic. 

“What’s her condition?” Dawn whispered to the medic.

“To be frank...not good.” she replied. “The birthing process has taken a huge toll on Marilyn’s body and heart. The baby is likely to survive the process if Marilyn is given enough strength to push it out, but Marilyn…”

“I won’t let that happen.” Dawn assured.

“That’s why you’re here.” the medic smiled.

The two of them turned back to Marilyn who was patiently awaiting their orders, along with Henry, Patrick and Angelica. All of them felt the slight shift of reality as Dawn started summoning mana from the Fade.

“Let’s get started.” she said.

Henry, Patrick and Angelica started moving from Marilyn’s side but before Angelica could leave the area, Dawn stopped her.

“I’ll need the help of my best student.” Dawn smiled.

Angelica returned with a smile of her own and slowly conjured mana from the Fade. The two of them joined together by Marilyn’s side and placed their healing hands a few inches above her.

“Be ready to grab the baby.” Dawn told the medic.

Dawn and Angelica started swaying their hands back and forth above Marilyn as the healing energy pushed and pulled through her body. This motion went on for several minutes as the medic helped Marilyn push the baby out. The two of them consistently provided Marilyn the strength needed to push the baby out, but Dawn knew that she had to rein the amount of energy given every few minutes just so Marilyn’s heart could take a break.

"Keep pushing Marilyn, keep pushing!" the medic encouraged.

Dawn and Angelica continued their wave-like motion of healing as Marilyn struggled to keep pushing the baby out. Dawn would occasionally look over to Angelica to see how she was fairing with the healing process and saw the many drops of sweat falling from her forehead. She was very impressed and proud to see that her apprentice had lasted this long in the healing process despite only having experience in healing magic for a little over three months. A few more minutes passed and the medic notified the group that she could see the baby’s head which motivated all of them to keep pushing. At this moment, Angelica was nearly fainting from the amount of magic she had been pouring into Marilyn’s body. Dawn urged her to take a break while she continued the healing process as she herself only had a few drops of sweat falling from her forehead. Calling forth more mana to make up for Angelica’s absence, Marilyn was given the strength to perform one more last push, but Dawn could see that the push was indeed taking its toll on her.

“Mother?” Angelica panted, going near her side.

“I can...do this…” Marilyn gritted through her teeth.

Using all of her strength, Marilyn screamed as she utilized the energy Dawn gave her to perform one last push. Her face reddened and the veins on her forehead were disturbingly poking, but all of her efforts weren’t futile.

“I have the baby!” the medic cheered.

Angelica started to panic as she looked at her mother who almost looked lifeless and checked her pulse to feel that it was dangerously slow. Working through her sweat and tears, Angelica called forth more mana from the Fade and placed her healing hands on her mother’s head, while Dawn did the same with her chest. Henry and Patrick looked on with fearful demeanors, scared that the worst was to come. Dawn tried pouring more magic into her spell, but nothing seemed to work. She knew she was getting weaker by the second and knew that the only way to save Marilyn’s life would be to take a risk. The risk would zap her of all her energy, preventing her from casting anymore spells, but if it worked, Marilyn’s life would be saved and Angelica, Patrick, and the new baby could have a mother and Henry have a wife.

“Benevolent Spirits of the Fade, please I beg of you, come to my aid!” Dawn called forth.

Dawn listened closely to the voices whispering to her. Dozens of demon voices whispered to her promising that they were the only ones that could save Marilyn’s life, but through them all, Dawn managed to make out the voice of her lone benevolent spirit. Opening herself to the spirit, it manifested before her and gleefully looked at her.

“Help her…” Dawn said, as she fell to the ground completely exhausted.

The spirit turned towards Marilyn and quickly hovered over her. For a few seconds, the spirit circled around her chest, no one sure what it was trying to do, but eventually it descended into Marilyn’s body and disappeared in a green flash. As the spirit disappeared, Angelica herself fell to the ground exhausted from over-exerting herself. The area went quiet, save for the crying newborn as all of them waited to see what happened to Marilyn. A moment later, Marilyn twitched awake and gasped for air. She was alive.

“Mother!” Patrick cheered, rushing to her side as Henry did the same.

Marilyn looked around confused and then her mind space returned to her and she realized where she was.

“My baby!” Marilyn exclaimed.

"Right here!" the medic proclaimed. “And it’s a beautiful baby girl.

Angelica performed a small victory cheer from the ground at the thought of having a sister while Patrick was only slightly upset at missing the opportunity to have a brother. The medic handed the new baby girl to Marilyn to hold as she started crying.

“She’s so beautiful.” Henry smiled. “Will she develop magic?”

“Whether she is a mage or not, I’m happy that she won’t have to run away for her life just because of who or what she’ll be.” Dawn smiled from the ground.

“And I will accept her no matter what.” he returned the smile.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Stay with me Dawn!” Elias screamed_

_The two of them had narrowly escaped the upper levels of the Circle Tower from both templars and abominations. As they ran down the spiraling stairs, they saw the blood of people and the ichor of demons sprayed across the wall which caused Dawn’s heart to go weak. She couldn’t look at this, so many innocent lives lost because of the Right of Annulment, but Elias kept her moving. Was this all really happening? Everyone in Thedas had heard of the Kirkwall Mage Rebellion that occurred only 3 years ago and the revolt of the White Spire that happened earlier in the year, but neither Dawn and Elias could foresee their own Circle's revolt happening so soon._

_“Get ready, I can hear fighting in the front hall!” Elias warned as they neared the bottom of the stairs._

_Dawn summoned mana and reinforced the magical shields she had cast on the both of them while Elias summoned mana and brought forth the primal forces of the universe. The two of them took a deep breath together and muttered a prayer under their breaths before they finally rushed into the commerce area. The scene was much worse than they could’ve imagined. Lesser demons of all kinds, abominations and templars were at each other's throats and neither Dawn nor Elias could pinpoint who was winning the battle. In the midst of the battle, they could see mage apprentices trying their best to fend off enemies from both sides, but their efforts were proving to be futile. Angered and worried, Elias ran into the battle with fiery hands as Dawn followed close behind watching his back._

_“Damn you all to the Void!” Elias cursed as he threw fireballs at the abominations and templars._

_All of his attacks connected with their enemies successfully destroying them or drawing their attention from the mage apprentices, allowing them to escape. A rage demon irritated by Elias’ attacks, moved towards him and tried to burn him to a crisp with a stream of fire, but Dawn’s magical shield saved his life. While the rage demon was distracted with Elias, Dawn came up from behind him and shot an arcane bolt at the demon, stunning it. With Dawn’s help, Elias was able to catch a breather and summon more mana to release at the demon in the form of ice magic. With the beast down, Dawn reinforced Elias’ magical barrier and the two of them continued forward._

_As they pushed forward, they were greeted by two templars who had broken away from the main fight. One of the templars rushed sword first at Elias, while the other one used lyrium in an attempt to reinforce reality and prevent Dawn and Elias from casting spells. The aggressive templar landed his sword on Elias’ staff and started bearing down on him. Elias fell to his knees and sweat started falling from his forehead. He tried summoning magic to blast the templar away but he found it increasingly difficult to do due to the other templar’s interference. Panicking because she knew that she couldn’t reach for magic from the Fade nor could she successfully fight a templar head on, Dawn took a risk and used the magic keeping her magical barrier up to create an arcane bolt that attacked the templar reinforcing reality. With the templar down, Elias felt his access to mana from the Fade returning and was able to power up his hands with fire. He smirked as he saw the fearful eyes develop in the templar in front of him and finally released the energy built up in him in the form of a fiery blast that sent the templar flying across the room._

_“Thank you darling.” Elias coughed as he got up on his feet._

_“Of cours…”_

_Before Dawn could fully accept Elias’ gratitude, an arrow zipped passed her and grazed her right arm. She grunted and took cover as Elias located where the arrow had come from and found a lone templar archer trying to notch another arrow and finish off Dawn. Before the templar had the chance however, he found himself frozen solid to the bone by Elias._

_“Dawn, are you alright?” Elias questioned, very concerned._

_“Yes.” she assured him. “Nothing that a little healing magic can’t solve.”_

_Dawn summoned healing mana from the Fade and placed her hand on her injury. A moment later, the injury was gone and Dawn no longer felt the pain. Once the two of them gathered their bearings, they looked around and saw that the battle was over...for now. Reinforcements were sure to arrive within minutes, both demons and templars, if they didn’t leave soon. Elias grabbed Dawn’s arm and tried running towards the exit, but Dawn would budge. Elias looked back at her confused and saw that she was shaking._

_“Dawn, what’s wrong?” he asked._

_“I’m...scared.” Dawn said, tearing up._

_“I am too.” Elias sympathized._

_“Once we go out those doors, we’ll be apostates for who knows how long. Neither one of us has any reliable friends or family to rely on for help. We’ll be living in the wild, struggling to eat, struggling to find safety...struggling to survive.” Dawn explained._

_“We’ll have each other.” Elias warmly smiled. “We’ll survive together.”_

_The two of them warmly embraced each other, hoping the best for the future that laid before them. After their hug, Elias double checked to make sure Dawn was fine before he carefully and gently grabbed her hand. Before they were able to leave however, they were stopped by a voice coming from behind them._

_“Don’t go anywhere Dawn!” the voice demanded._

_Turning around, Dawn saw her older cousin, Gabrielle, approaching the two of them with her sword in hand. Her armor was very rugged, dented, and bloodied and even from a distance, Dawn could see the grey hairs of her unkempt hair flowing behind her. Dawn felt the reality around her being shifted and saw the smoldering flames forming in Elias’ arm._

_“You don’t have to do this Gabrielle.” Dawn pleaded._

_“I...must.” she responded with hesitation._

_Gabrielle started sprinting towards them, but before she could even get remotely close to them, a rage demon manifested in front of her from the weakened Veil and caught her off guard. The demon attacked her and knocked her to the ground, causing her to lose her sword._

_“Come on Dawn! Let’s leave while we can!” Elias urged._

_“No, we can’t abandon her like this!” Dawn pleaded._

_Elias hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. The two of them summoned mana from the Fade and sent a double attack of an ice cone and arcane bolt that froze and shattered the rage demon before it could attack Gabrielle. Running up to her cousin, Dawn helped her to her feet while Elias grabbed her sword. Gabrielle looked at the both of them in shock. ‘Why didn’t they escape?’ she thought. ‘They could’ve escaped!’. She looked over to Elias who was still holding her sword and although he was still suspicious, he handed the sword back to her._

_“Are you alright?” Dawn questioned._

_“Yes…” Gabrielle responded. “You...helped me...even after what I was going to do.”_

_“I wouldn’t leave you to that demon’s hands.” Dawn simply answered._

_“I…”_

_Just then, Dawn’s other templar cousin, Daniel, arrived with the room sword in hand, ready to put down the two mages before him. However before he could even get a single swing in, Gabrielle used her metal gauntlet and punched him across the jaw, knocking him out cold. Both Dawn and Elias looked on in complete shock as Gabrielle wiped down her gauntlet._

_“He was always a little too eager to take down mages.” she noted._

_“Why did you do that?” Dawn questioned._

_“I’m returning the favor.” she answered. “Leave Dawn, escape. I’ll destroy both of your phylacteries so that the templars can’t easily find you.”_

_“They’ll kill you for that Gabrielle!” Dawn exclaimed._

_“Then I will die for something worthy.” Gabrielle warmly smiled. “Dawn, I’ve watched you grow from a young child to a grown woman. You’ve always had a kind heart and always had a strong moral compass. Even if you are a mage, you don’t deserve such a fate the Chantry has for you. I want you to live, the both of you.”_

_Without saying a word, Dawn ran up to her cousin and hugged her very tight._

_“Thank you for everything Gabrielle.” she cried._

_“It was a pleasure Dawn.” Gabrielle cried._

_Once the hug was over, Dawn returned to Elias’ side and she grabbed his hand. Elias nodded to Gabrielle in respect before he finally guided the two of them out of the Circle. Turning back from them, Gabrielle sighed and prayed._

**_“Maker, watch over them.” she whispered._ **


	18. Chapter 18

“Cheers to a bright future!” Henry laughed.

“Cheers to a bright future!” Dawn joined in.

The two of them recklessly slammed their beer mugs against each other causing splashes of the beverage to spill on the wooden counter they were sitting at. The two of them quickly gulped down the beer and crashed their mugs on the counter as they shook their heads. Cabot asked if they wanted more and although Dawn was tempted to get another, she didn’t want to get drunk tonight. Confident that they were finished, he grabbed their mugs and returned to the kitchen to get them washed. Dawn looked at Henry who was looking at his closed hands with a smile. The smile quickly turned into a frown of regret as he met Dawn’s gaze.

“Thank you Dawn.” he nodded.

“No need to thank me.” Dawn scoffed.

“No, seriously thank you.” Henry replied. “For everything.”

Dawn smiled.

“You have shown my family a kindness that I haven’t seen in a while. Shown  _ me _ a kindness I haven’t seen in a while.” he continued. “You protected my family and I at the expense of your own life, taught my daughter to harness her magical abilities, healed my scar and saved both my wife and newborn’s lives and...all I can think about is how I never properly apologized for my behavior towards you along the way.”

Dawn’s eyebrows rose.

“I likened your magic to a curse, nearly hurt you and your spirit friend, among other things and yet… you never wavered to show kindness. For that, I deeply apologize for my reckless actions.”

Henry diverted his eyes from Dawn and returned them to his closed hands.

“Apology accepted.” Dawn smiled.

It took a while for Henry to respond, but he ultimately nodded and sighed.

“Now that the sad moment is over, I have some news for you.” Henry smiled.

“News?” Dawn questioned. “For me?”

“Yes.” he returned. “Marilyn and I have discussed it and we would be honored if you were to be Phoebe’s godmother.”

“Godmother?” Dawn stumbled. “You mean Phoebe’s godmother...like a  _ real _ godmother...me?”

“Of course.” Henry laughed. “And please say yes because you’re our only choice at the moment.”

“Well then… I accept!” Dawn cheered.

“Excellent!” Henry joined in, presenting a hand to Dawn.

Dawn shook the hand proudly and nodded.

“Well then, I should returned back to the quarters.” Henry yawned. “No doubt Marilyn needs a break from all the crying and vomiting. Dawn, it’s been a pleasure.”

“It has Henry.” Dawn smiled.

Henry stood up from his stool and neatly placed it back in its correct position. Within a minute, he had exited the Herald’s Rest and Dawn was left sitting at the counter by herself. She was beside herself being proclaimed as a godmother. She thought of her future with this new family, watching the young baby Phoebe grow into an adult over the next decades and if she developed magic just the same as her older sister, she would be there, always.

Just as her thoughts of the future ceased, she heard Henry’s stool being pulled and someone sitting down in his place. Slowly turning her head, she recognized the young man. The same man that bore the same locs of dark brown hair, the same tired eyes that she herself developed was now next to her; her baby brother.

She quickly diverted her eyes from the man and ordered another beer for herself. As soon as she received the beer, she started drinking the beer, panicking. She must’ve been making a lot of commotion she thought because not long after, her brother looked over to her direction and gave a small chuckle.

“The Herald’s Rest beer is certainly the best there is.” Leo grinned.

“I uh...yes...m’lord.” Dawn nervously chuckled.

“Relax.” Leo chuckled. “No need to be nervous. Here I’m just a regular person remember, just as anyone else. No need to treat me all special like.”

“It’s not that m’lord… I mean Herald… I mean…”

Dawn stopped herself for a moment and then collected herself before speaking again.

“What was your family like?” Dawn asked.

“My family?” Leo repeated. “I was sure all of Thedas knew my entire background, but I don’t mind telling you personally. I am the youngest son of Bann Lucious Trevelyan from Ostwick in the Free Marches. I was groomed to become a templar before the events of the Conclave. The rest I’m sure you are aware.”

“Ah yes, I was...aware of what others have said but…”

“But…” Leo repeated.

“How was your relationship with your father...your mother?” Dawn hesitantly asked.

“Why do you ask?” Leo said defensively, while trying to sound as polite as possible.

Dawn slowly turned her head towards Leo who’s gleefulness had now turned to gloom. She saw how uncomfortable her brother looked and it pained her to see him in this light. Ever since she arrived in Skyhold and saw him, he always wore a smile, he was always happy. This is exactly what she feared in the instance of telling him the truth. But this pain of never getting to know her brother ate at her from the inside, especially after the birth of Phoebe.

She had to do this now matter how much it pained them both.

“My relationship with Lucious Trevelyan was...complicated, but I was always happy around Rae Trevelyan.” Dawn continued.

“How did you have a relationship with my father?” Leo replied with a crack voice. “How could you have known my mother?”

Dawn took two deep breaths before speaking again and she was surprised that her brother was patient enough with her to do so.

“Because… I am your sister.” Dawn revealed.

“Do not… do this...to me.” Leo responded shaking. “My sister, my  _ only _ sister died at the Conclave as well as my older brother.”

Just then, the bartender delivered the mug of beer to Leo and returned back to the kitchen.

“I will be leaving now…” Leo said, clumsily standing from his stool.

“Wait…” Dawn called out.

_ As I enter the dream realm, I think of what is and what could be _

_ In this realm I am safe, In this realm I am free _

_ Free from the shackles of the world, no pain, no sadness _

_ In this place, everything is sane with no sight of madness _

_ I come to you Maker, come to you humbly in penitence _

_ For I have sin, no longer am I with innocence _

_ From the shadows, I stand before evil as I should... _

“To remind myself that I am not perfect, but I shall always remain good.” Leo finished, shaking.

He could never forget such a prayer; the very prayer he recited every night before he went to bed. It was one that his mother encouraged all of her children to recite at the end of the day whether the day had brought them happiness or sadness, fortune or pain. It was always a constant reminder for them to be grateful, stand up against the wrongs of the world and to be free. To have this woman recite the very same poem  _ exactly  _ meant one thing.

**“You are my sister.” he softly spoke, a single tear rolling down his eyes.**


	19. Chapter 19

The two siblings spent the next few hours catching up with each other. They had moved to a corner table and were both laughing and crying about the stories they were telling each other. Some of the stories included Leo highlighting his experience as the Inquisitor as well as the relationships he had fostered in his position while Dawn mostly talked about her experiences in the Circle and her journey to Skyhold. Despite the different paths their respective lives took, the one thing they shared were the fond memories they had of their mother during the short few years they fully spent with her.

“Mother was a saint.” Leo smiled, taking a drink of his beer.

“She was.” Dawn smiled back, taking a drink of hers.

A moment of silence waved over the two, but it wasn’t awkward. Both were just remembering past events. Eventually Dawn broke the silence.

“How did she pass?” Dawn asked.

“I was only seven when she passed.” Leo explained. “At that point of my life, it seemed like she died from some sort of sickness, but now as I look back at it as a man, she seemed...depressed.”

“Depressed?” Dawn questioned.

“Yeah.” Leo confirmed. “She always seemed happy around Aaron, Elaina and I but when she looked away, she seemed...sad. Now that I think about it, maybe holding the secret of you broke her heart.”

“Dear Maker…” Dawn prayed.

“ _I_ don’t blame you.” Leo nodded. “It’s not even your fault.”.

“What was father like...after she died?” Dawn asked.

“Well, y’know father was always strict” Leo scoffed. “But after mother died, he distanced himself from Aaron, Elaina and I and focused on his work. Aaron and Elaina followed suit and went full throttle into their own careers. I never saw much of them after her death. As for me, father would send me to the Chantry very often to learn the ways of the templars.”

“Yet, you never became a templar.” Dawn said.

“Yes.” Leo answered.

Dawn saw the anger develop in her brother’s eyes as he talked about their father. It was the same anger she saw in herself in her later years in the Circle and even when she comforted their father about him. There was some unresolved conflict in her brother and she didn’t like the internal war he seemed to be facing.

“Leo...I think you should return with me to Ostwick.” Dawn said. “To talk to father.”

“What?” Leo replied in an offended tone.

“I see that you are hurting inside brother.” Dawn calmly responded. “The two of you need to talk.”

“I’ve said everything I had to say to that man.” Leo said. “I wrote to him after Aaron and Elaina’s deaths. No reply.”

“I’ve talked to him in person.” Dawn explained. “He doesn’t seem to be the same prideful man he used to be.”

“You don’t understand.” Leo said, shaking his head.

“Then make me understand brother.” Dawn pleaded.

Leo sighed and gulped down the last of his beer before placing it back down on the table. Looking into the crowd of patrons in the tavern, he started.

“Father and I had a big argument a year before the Conclave. Right at the start of the Mage/Templar War.” Leo said. “I was having doubts on becoming a templar, especially after hearing that we would have to hunt mages, innocent or not, because they posed a threat to the world. I didn’t believe in that cause, killing innocent men, women and children just because of who they were was not something I could do. So I ran…I ran away from the monastery back home.”

“I journeyed back home, hoping to tell father of my decision. I had hoped he would understand why I did what I did, but he was furious at me. He yelled at me, called me a disappointment. He wanted me to compromise my morals, my honor, my integrity for _his_ reputation. I couldn’t deal with it, so I left him too.”.

“I had no idea.” Dawn empathized. “I know what it's like to be known as a disappointment to him.”.

“Now you understand Dawn.” Leo nodded. “We’ve found each other and we don’t need him in our lives.”

“I sincerely want to believe that Leo.” Dawn returned. “But you need to find your inner peace and I believe that expressing how you really feel to father will do that. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself.”

Leo thought about what Dawn said for a moment. Although he was able to accurately express how he felt about becoming a templar to his father before, there was a lot of things he wasn't able to speak on that really bothered him. Pride, familial expectations and status was a plague that ravaged the Trevelyan family and Leo needed to tell his father about how all these toxic values led to the deaths of many of their family members. Like Dawn said, if nothing came of the meeting, he was free to leave his father behind forever and continue his sibling relationship with Dawn, but he also questioned whether he was even emotionally prepared to meet with his father again.

“Just...give me some time.” Leo sighed.

“Of course.” Dawn smiled, placing her hand on his arm.

**\----------------------------------------------------------------**

_Dawn sat before the boiling and dented soup cauldron in front of the campfire she started around 10 minutes ago. Occasionally she would look up and around her at the cold, dark and sharp walls of the cave she was in and would hallucinate seeing giant spiders crawling across them, but Elias assured her that she would be safe while he went off for a moment to set traps and examine the entire cave. Calming her nerves, she used the ladle of the soup cauldron to lift some soup and after blowing on it for about thirty seconds, she sipped on it._

_"I'm not getting any better at this." she complained after struggling to swallow the 'soup'._

_Just as she placed the ladle back into the soup cauldron, Elias returned from his errands dirtier than before and took a seat right next to her._

_"The magic traps are all set." he explained. "Nothing, neither man nor monster, will bother us tonight without getting a face full of flames first."_

_"Thank you." Dawn slightly smiled._

_"I also found a secret exit for us to take just in case the templars come knocking, though I don't expect them to find this place at least for a few days." Elias continued._

_"Good." Dawn nodded. "Anyway, dinner is done."_

_Grabbing two chipped wooden bowls, Dawn poured two ladles full of soup into the two bowls and handed one to Elias. Looking at the bowl, Elias noticed that the soup was paler than it should have been, but at this point he was so hungry that he had no patience to even try a little first. Downing the entire soup in one go, Elias stopped for a moment holding his chest and Dawn looked over to see that his eyes were incredibly large and wide open._

_"Are you alright?" Dawn asked, not sure whether to laugh or be concern that her cooking was actually that deadly._

_"...yes." Elias finally answered after catching his breath. "Your cooking is definitely getting better. Better than mine could ever be. Remember when I try my hand at cooking that nug we found two months ago?"_

_"Oh I remember." Dawn laughed. "I was sick to my stomach for three days."_

_The two of them laughed as their voices boomed through the cave. They immediately stopped, not wanting to gather unnecessary attention from outside the cave._

_"I think now is a good time more than any." Elias said reaching into his coat. "I got this back from the town we passed two nights ago."_

_Dawn looked down at Elias' hand and saw that he was holding a medium sized bottle full of red wine. She wondered how he could hide such as thing from him but then again, the both of them wore huge coats that kept them warm during this year's harsh winter so there was no telling what either one of them hid under them._

_"What's all this for?" Dawn questioned, turning the bottle around._

_"Today is a special day." Elias explained. "Today is the six month anniversary since we've escaped the Circle. Hopefully I can find another one of these for our anniversary when it comes around."_

_"Oh Maker, you're right!" Dawn realized._

_The past 6 months had been very stressful trying to evade templars and beasts, trying to scrap up any food they could find and trying to find shelter and warmth from the harsh weather conditions of the Free Marches that the days seemed to just go by. She never truly realized how long they had been living this life._

_"I don't have any wine glasses so we'll just have to go back and forth sharing the bottle." Elias explained, lifting the cork off the bottle. "Cheers darling."_

_After taking a quick swig of the wine, he passed the bottle to Dawn, who was blushing across her face._

_"Cheers love." she smiled, taking a swig of the wine as well._

_Although the wine would be considered the lowest of the low in Orlais, it was one of the best things they'd ever tasted in the past few months and it was exceptionally better than the soup they were eating. The two of them went back and forth sharing the bottle until nearly three-fourths of the bottle was gone. When the bottle returned back to Elias, he set it aside and looked into the campfire before them._

_"Y'know I had a crazy dream about us last night." Elias lightly chuckled._

_"Tell me about it." Dawn said, fully giving her attention to him._

_"Well..." Elias started. "The two of us lived in a nice, small cabin in the woods, similar to the one that I saw during my Harrowing all those years ago. We were still mages, but there was no such thing as templars versus mages. We were just allowed to be. The two of us were married and it was a good marriage. We would wake up early together to go walking around the large lake a mile behind our home, go berry picking, and watch the night sky together. We were far from civilization, but the both of us were fine with that. You were my whole world and the only thing I cared for, but I knew that I would soon care for another because you were with child. It was a truly beautiful dream and I didn't want to wake up, I didn't want that world stripped away from me."_

_The two of them sat in silence for a moment, internalizing what was shared. Outside, the howls of a wolf could be heard but neither one of them were concerned with it. Eventually, Elias spoke up again._

_"I know it's a stupid dream..."_

_"No, let's do it." Dawn responded._

_"I...what?" Elias questioned, completely shocked._

_"Let's do it. Let's make your dream a reality." Dawn continued._

_"But the templars..."_

_"The templars are a problem." Dawn admitted. "But maybe we could move farther north, not quite Tevinter, but close enough where the templars won't be as much as a problem."_

_"Darling..."_

_"We can build the cabin together, make fond memories with each other, get married and have a child and..."_

_"Dawn." Elias interrupted. "I love you."_

_"I love you too." Dawn blushed._

_The two of them moved closer together and passionately kissed each other on the lips._

_**"As long as we're together, we can make our dream happen." Dawn faithfully declared.** _


	20. Chapter 20

A few days later, Leo found himself sparring with Cassandra. It was something that the two friends did weekly and both of them found great joy in it and learned from each other. Leo was better at defense and would show her effective ways to block and parry a variety of attacks. Cassandra on the other hand was way better with offense and demonstrated powerful and effective attacks against stronger enemies.

Today was different though.

Leo had been thinking about the conversation he had with Dawn a few days ago and although Cassandra had no idea what exactly occurred then, she knew that her friend was troubled.

"Leonardo, is something the matter?" she asked, placing her sword down.

"It's fine." Leo assured. "I promise."

Cassandra proceeded to cross her arms and groan. In the year and a half that she knew him, she was exposed to his mannerisms and learned that he wasn't one for openly explaining his feelings. She knew that it was because he didn't like bothering people with his problems, but the two of them were good friends and she knew that talking about it would help.

"It's something with my family." Leo started, not trying to test Cassandra’s patience.

Cassandra was taken aback. Leo barely talked about his family to her. She only knew vague details beyond knowing that his siblings died at the Conclave, but nothing detailed about his parents.

"What about your family?"

"I met my...older sister a few nights ago." Leo said.

"I thought your older sister died at the Conclave." Cassandra responded confused.

“Elaina did.” Leo explained. “But I have an even older sister, Aurora-Dawn.”

“How is it that you didn't know about her before?” Cassandra questioned.

“She’s a mage.” Leo answered. “She was taken to the Circle before I was even born and was kept a secret from me my entire life.”

“Ah I see.” Cassandra said.

Leo placed his sword and shield down next to the hay filled sparring dummy and took a seat under a tree. Cassandra joined him and the two looked up at the morning sky.

“Meeting her must have been troubling.” Cassandra spoke.

“It was at first.” Leo admitted. “But the two of us hit it off very well. We both had very close relationships with our mother...she’s not the problem.”

“Something else is then.” Cassandra concluded.

Leo took a deep sigh and diverted his eyes from the sky. For a moment, he stared at the grass in front of him before he finally turned to face Cassandra.

“She wants me to return back to Ostwick with her...to talk with our father.” Leo revealed.

“You rarely talk about your father.” Cassandra noted.

“There’s a reason for that.” Leo immediately responded. “He basically disowned me after we had a falling out about my career.”

“And now he wants you back?”

“I suppose.” he sighed, placing a hand on his forehead.

The two of them sat in silence for another moment as the early morning winds rustled the leaves of the tree above them. Cassandra hesitantly and genuinely placed her hand on Leo’s shoulder and looked at him.

“Look Leonardo, I’m not exactly the best with comforting friends as you know all too well.” Cassandra prefaced. “But is there anything that I can do for you?”

“What do you think I should do Cassandra?” Leo asked.

“My family, like the Trevelyans, is a huge clan, but I’m not exactly close with them.” Cassandra answered. “I only ever really got along with Anthony and honestly he was all I ever needed. It seems to me that Dawn is the only other Trevelyan you get along well with now and it’s fine that it’s only the two of you.”

Leo nodded his head and gained a pensive look. He honestly believed that he only needed Dawn as his blood family, though he himself had to admit that he was at least still fond of some other family members such as Aunt Lucille and his cousin Philliam, the Bard who he remembered playing the lute at Aunt Lucille’s balls. Did he really want to leave the entire Trevelyans behind?

“But if anything, I still believe that you should confront your father.” Cassandra suggested. “To at least express how you really feel, a declaration like how we started the Inquisition.”

“That is definitely an option.” Leo lightly chuckled. “Thank you for the advice Cassandra.”

“Of course, my friend.” Cassandra smiled.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Lunch is here.” Leo said as he entered Josephine’s workplace. “Courtesy from Cabot.”

On the tray that he was holding were two bowls of chicken broth and two slices of bread sitting in them. As he carefully navigated through the room, Leo made sure that the soup contents didn’t spill all over the recently cleaned area. Once he finally made it to Josephine’s desk, she put some of her papers aside and helped him place the tray on her desk. After he was done placing the tray down, he pulled up a nearby chair and sat next to Josephine.

“I appreciate this Leo.” Josephine genuinely smiled. “I tend to forget lunch hours.”

“Well I have to make sure you eat darling.” Leo laughed.

The two of them began chowing down on their food. As he sipped his soup, Leo noticed that Josephine unceremoniously chomping down on her bread. In a high class area, she may have been judged, but Leo knew that she was very hungry and couldn’t care less for proper high class manners. As he started eating his own bread, Leo found his eyes wandering towards the Montilyet Family Crest positioned at the far right side of Josephine’s desk. Josephine, through her eating, caught Leo in the act and immediately gained a sympathetic demeanor.

“Have you...made a decision yet?” Josephine softly asked.

“No not yet.” Leo sighed. “I’ve talked to Cassandra about it earlier and she thinks I should confront my father.”

“I agree with her.” Josephine replied. “I believe something may come of it.”

“I suppose.” Leo sighed.

“I’ve actually been thinking about your situation a lot.” Josephine admitted. “Specifically about family.”

“What are your thoughts?” Leo curiously asked.

“Family is complicated and they can be unbearable, I know.” Josephine started. “But as much as they are those things, I care deeply for them. Surely there are still people you still care for in your family beyond Dawn.”

“Well, I am pretty fond of my Aunt Lucille and my cousin Philliam who is a bard is definitely a life of the party whenever he’s around.” Leo explained.

“See!” Josephine laughed. “There are people in your family that you still care for and I don’t think you should abandon them.”

“Hmm...that’s actually some great advice Josie.” Leo smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’m here for you, my love, always.” Josephine said, kissing Leo on the cheek.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leo stood before the curved staircase in Skyhold’s mosaic room, the room where Solas resided before he left almost a year ago. He looked back and briefly glanced at the art, sighing. Today had been a very long and tiring day, but he didn’t want to sleep another restless night thinking about this family and the decision he had to make. Besides that however, he had promised a close friend that he would be returning a book back to him tonight. Clutching tightly onto the book in his right hand, Leo took his first steps towards the staircase.

Walking up the dimly lit stairs almost produced an hallucinatory experience for Leo and he would occasionally have to stop to take a break and get his headspace back in the right place. Once he finally approached the top of the stairs, he sighed and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. After a minute, he continued a few steps ahead and stopped at the mini library area that Dorian resided.

“Ah Leo, my friend.” Dorian greeted through the novel he was reading. “How was the book on Tevinter Politics and Culture: 4th Edition?”

“It was...pretty interesting.” Leo declared. “I noticed that we, in the Free Marches, share a few customs regarding celebrations with a few twists on them.”

“Ah yes, a product of the Imperium’s imperialist days.” Dorian pensively spoke. "We can proceed with discussing more of the book if you wish.”

Dorian pointed a hand to a nice and comfortable seat angled in front of him. Without saying a word, Leo quietly took a seat and slowly handed the book back to Dorian.

“I was actually wondering if you could give me advice on a situation I’m facing.” Leo said.

“Oh of course.” Dorian readily responded with his ears tuned in. “What can I do for you?”

Leo quickly looked around to make sure no one else was in earshot. It was pretty late and most of the Inquisition members who spent their time studying and reading in the library area had already returned to their quarters, though a few studious people stayed behind and had their faces stuffed in books. If anything, the only person who would probably listen in on the conversation would be Leliana unknowingly since she resided in the area above them. Taking a deep sigh, Leo started.

“It's a family issue. Specifically with my father.”

“Well…you’ve come to the right person about this issue.” Dorian responded. “What exactly is going on?”

“I don’t know if you have seen her or not, but she tends to work around the library.” Leo continued. “Aurora-Dawn, a healer mage, is actually an older sister of mine I never knew about and after we finally reunited a few days ago, she wanted me to go back home with her to confront my father. The problem is, my father disowned me after I expressed that I didn’t want to become a full fledged templar a few years ago.”

“Leo…” Dorian sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me about your relationship with your father before? We have very similar experiences regarding our fathers and you were so adamant on helping me with my situation.”

“Our situations were different…until now.” Leo admitted. “Your father reached out to you wanting to make amends for the foul actions he tried to force on you. I was so happy that that moment came for you and that you were able to mend at least some of the relationship. For the longest time after our falling out, my father never reached out to me, even after Aaron and Elaina’s deaths. I didn’t think that there could be anything done...until now.”

“I can understand that.” Dorian sympathized. “Well, I believe you should definitely confront your father. I could go with you if you’d like.”

“Your advice is enough help, my friend.” Leo smiled. “I think that this is a journey Dawn and I need to do on our own. There is another thing however…”

“I’m all ears.” Dorian replied.

“At first I believed that if I decided to confront my father, I would say what I would have to say and continue my life with my sister without the rest of the Trevelyans, but now...I have doubts.” Leo revealed.

“What are these doubts of yours?” Dorian asked.

“I don’t think I want to leave the Trevelyan family behind, not like this.” Leo admitted. “It’d be too easy to do so, but it would also be selfish. The Trevelyans are a huge family and I’m sure there are at least some people that believe the same Dawn and I believe about our family being too obsessed with reputation, status and pride. And I don’t want the next generations of Trevelyans growing up with these values.”

Dorian could only respond to Leo’s comments with a smirk. After a few seconds, he started chuckling causing Leo to become confused.

“You and I are more alike than you believe.” he said, continuing his chuckling.

“What do you mean?” Leo questioned.

“You can spearhead the change you want to see in your family...just the same as what I want to do with my homeland.” Dorian explained. “It will take a lot of work, but in the end it will make you and others happy.”

Leo grew wide eyed at the revelation. He was surprised that it took him this long for such an idea to be presented to him, but he was extremely grateful.

“Thank you so much for your advice Dorian.” Leo said, jumping up from his chair and hugging him.

Dorian didn’t expect the hug and nearly fell to the ground, but he welcomed it.

**“Anytime.”**


	21. Chapter 21

It was high noon and the sun hovered directly over Skyhold. Leo had found himself approaching the Skyhold gardens wearing a standard Ferelden coat to keep himself warm from the still cold wintry winds. He noticed that the gardens were particularly quiet today, only spotting a few Chantry sisters talking to each other and even fewer botanists tending to the flowers and herbs. After scanning the gardens back and forth, he spotted the person he was looking for standing near the garden’s memorial shrine. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he started his slow walk towards them.

As Leo approached the person closer, the crunch of leaves alerted them, which caused them to quickly look back at him with a small, but nervous smile. Leo returned the smile with his own small, but nervous smile before the two of them hugged each other.

“Hello little brother.” Dawn greeted as they embraced.

“Hello sister.” Leo returned.

After the hug was finished, a wave of silence fell between them for a moment before Dawn anxiously broke it.

“This garden reminds me of the one mother cultivated back home.” she said as she looked around. “The herbs, the flowers, it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah.” Leo sighed with a smile. “I visit the gardens whenever I can. It makes me feel closer to her and I come here to celebrate her birthday.”

Diverting her attention from the flowers and herbs in the garden, Dawn returned her attention to the memorial shrine and started reading off the names. Under the Conclave section, she noticed many Trevelyans names she didn’t recognize and a few that she did including Aaron and Elaina which caused her to solemnly lower her head. Leo approached her and gently touched her shoulder.

“I miss them too.” Leo empathized.

While she had her head lowered, Dawn noticed that one of the urns sitting at the bed of the memorial shrine bore the Trevelyan Family seal. Curious, she carefully grabbed it and brought it in front of her face to read the details etched into the base of the urn. Leo winched a bit at Dawn discovering the urn, but didn’t stop her further probing.

“Ilene Trevelyan.” Dawn read. “A faithful and generous servant of the Maker. This name is new to me.”

“Ilene was the youngest daughter of Uncle Zain.” Leo explained. “She and I were around the same age and she was wonderful.”

“Tell me about her.” Dawn eagerly, but gently replied. “If you are comfortable doing so.”

Leo guided his hand towards a nearby table and the two slowly walked over to sit at it. Dawn placed the urn at the center of the table and Leo started looking at it attentively. He sighed for a moment and then looked back at Dawn with mournful eyes.

“Ilene and I first met at our first Aunt Lucille’s ball.” Leo started. “We were both so nervous about making a good first impression and we instantly bonded with each other. We spent the entire night together getting to know each other and we trusted each other, even with our deepest fears. For years after mother died, she was the only one that I felt I could really get along with, especially during our templar training years. She accepted me for who I really was, even when I express my choice not to continue with becoming a templar. Unfortunately when I left the Order, she didn’t come with me even when I begged her and I didn’t see her again until the day she died.”

“Oh Leo.” Dawn said, softly touching his hand.

“It happened a little over a year ago.” Leo continued. “The Inquisition found her and other templars fighting off red templars at a templar fortress in the Free Marches. We reunited and fought together before she was taken from me by a vile monster who she once trusted.”

Leo slowly stood from his chair and looked into the sky.

“I miss her.” he simply said. “But I know that she’s with the Maker now.”

Turning back to Dawn, he resumed a serious demeanor.

“And I don’t want another Trevelyan to go through what she, Aaron, Elaina, mother, you and I went through.” he declared.

“What do you mean?” Dawn questioned, joining his side with the urn.

“The neglect you faced from our family while you were in the Circle, me getting disowned because of my refusal to become a templar, Ilene’s false devotion to the Templar Order because of her fear of disappointing her father, Aaron and Elaina being so focused on their careers and even mother dying from depression because of losing you. All of it happened because of our family’s obsession with status, following a predestined path, and pride and it took me a while to realize that I can do something about it now.”

Dawn saw something in her brother’s eyse that she hadn’t seen in him since they first talked about confronting their father: hope. It was very inspiring and Dawn couldn’t help but smile at her brother.

“I will return with you to meet with father, sister.” Leo stated. “We will leave tonight.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Sitting before a vast and glistening lake, Dawn took a great inhale of air which carried the scent of summer marigolds and lotuses. It had become a daily ritual for her to visit the lake in the day and spend an hour meditating, though some days she would simply sit and admire the lake with a benevolent spirit from the Fade._

_Today was such a day._

_“This place never gets old.” Dawn exhaled._

_The wisp hovering next to her cheerfully squealed in agreement._

_“I still can’t believe that this is actually the reality we live in.” Dawn laughed. “Mages all over Southern Thedas are free to roam amongst non-mages, Elias and I are happily and safely living together and we’re able to eat delicious food again. This has been the best month I’ve ever experienced in a long time.”_

_The wisp spun around Dawn very rapidly causing her to laugh._

_“Thank you.” Dawn chuckled. “I wish we could stay here a little longer, but Elias is most likely waiting for me back home. He says that he has a surprise for me.”_

_Standing up on her two feet, Dawn dusted the grass and dirt off her clothes and stretched her arms out._

_“Would you like to accompany me back home?” Dawn asked._

_The wisp gleefully bounced up and down and rushed ahead to the road back home, impatiently waiting for Dawn to join it._

_“Alright, I’m coming, I’m coming.” she laughed._

_\------_

_It took Dawn and wisp around fifteen minutes to return back to the cabin and Dawn was extremely grateful that the wisp kept her entertained. As the two of them approached the pathway leading to the front door of the cabin, Dawn turned to face the wisp._

_“Thank you for keeping me company.” she smiled. “Now I have to send you back home.”_

_Summoning mana and opening herself up to the Fade, the wisp found that the shifting reality allowed it to slip back into its home realm. As it did so, Dawn waved goodbye and it returned with a grateful squeal. After the spirit was gone, Dawn turned back to the front door and tried controlling her excitement of the surprise that awaited her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door._

_“Elias, I’m back home!” Dawn announced as she went through the door. “Now what was this surprise you wanted to...”_

_Before she could continue her statement, Dawn caught the scent of honey and lavender and realized just how warm the cabin was. Approaching from their bedroom, Elias greeted Dawn with a warm kiss to the cheek._

_“What’s going on and why does it smell like honey and lavender?” Dawn questioned, confused._

_“It’s my surprise for you.” Elias laughed. “Or at least part of it.”_

_Grabbing Dawn’s hand, he guided her to their room and as they got closer to it, the scent of honey and lavender became more potent. Once they finally entered the room, Dawn discovered the source of the smell and heat._

_“A nice, warm, scented bath.” Dawn said. “What’s the occasion?”_

_“A night out in town.” Elias revealed. “Dinner and a show to be exact.”_

_“Wow!” Dawn replied astonished. “That all sounds amazing with you.”_

_“I would hope so.” Elias joked. “Anyway, I’ll let you take your bath and get ready. We’ll leave in an hour and a half.”_

_“Thank you darling.” Dawn said, hugging him._

_“Of course.” Elias replied, gladly accepting the hug._

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Arriving at town later that evening, Dawn and Elias found themselves approaching the front entrance of the inn where they were to have their dinner and show. Opening the front door for Dawn, they were hit with warm and soothing air from the indoor atmosphere. Once they were fully inside, they could smell freshly-made broth and wine which caused Dawn to shiver with joy. As they started walking around the inn to find seats for themselves, they noticed that none of the patrons really stared at them. This wasn’t their first time visiting this town, but they could comfortably say that this was the least antagonistic experience they’ve had in town, mostly likely due to their lack of staves and magi robes. After a few minutes of walking around, the two of them were able to find a nice corner table fitted for two people and quickly grab their respective chairs. It didn’t take long for a server to approach them inquiring about their orders. Dawn ordered a small bowl of the chicken soup they were conjuring up in the kitchen, while also ordering a glass of wine. Elias also ordered the same thing but also asked for a small bowl of peanuts the two of them could share. The server nodded with a smile and moved back towards the kitchen to prepare their meals._

_“Wow, this place is really nice.” Dawn said. “I’m surprised we’ve never visited this place at all since we’ve been in the area.”_

_“Only the best for my lady.” Elias said kissing her hand._

_A few minutes went by and the server returned with their food items. After carefully placing them on the table, Elias reached into his pocket and pulled out a few silver coins._

_“Thank you very much.” he said, tipping the server._

_The server nodded and moved on to serve the next few customers._

_Elias grabbed a hold of his wine glass and looked into it. After examining it for a moment, he looked at Dawn and smiled._

_“To us.” he said, lifting his glass._

_“To us.” Dawn said, lifting her glass and softly hitting it with Elias’ glass._

_After the both of them took a small sip of wine from their glasses, the rest of the patrons started applauding. The two of them were confused at first, but soon discovered why they were applauding; the show was starting. Turning their attention to the stage, they saw a lone bard taking up a stool on the stage. He waved and bowed to the crowd while holding onto a lute and Dawn could’ve swore that she saw some of the ladies in the audience swooning over him. The bard wore a color scheme of green, gold and brown and wore his dreaded hair in the form of a ponytail that stuck out of his feathered cap. After the applauds started dying down, the bard decided to introduce himself._

_“Good evening everyone!” he introduced. “If you don’t know me or my wonderful ballads, my name is Philliam Bernard Aloicious Trevelyan, but you may call me Philliam, the Bard.”_

_Before he continued, he threw a wink at one of the patrons of the inn, which caused them to swoon over him._

_“Hey Trevelyan eh.” Elias whispered to Dawn._

_“Must be a distant cousin or something.” Dawn shrugged. “I’ve never heard of him before.”_

_“Tonight, I will be singing a few of my ballads I’ve written this past year starting with my newest one, The Herald That Save Us All, a ballad about my great distant cousin, Leonardo Trevelyan, who you may all know better as the Inquisitor.” Philliam continued._

_Looking down at his lute, he started lightly strumming the strings until he finally landed on a nice, tuned note. Before continuing, he looked back up at the crowd with a smile. Taking a deep breath, he began his tale._

_“This is the tale of the Herald,_

_Who is certainly not a doofus,_

_A man who is kind, brave and smart,_

_The son of one named Lucious…”_

_Upon hearing that last word of the fourth line, Dawn froze in her seat. She could faintly hear everyone around her clapping and quietly cheering on Philliam, but a ringing sound dominated her sense of hearing. She placed her soup spoon down and began holding her head, causing Elias to divert his attention from the performance towards Dawn._

_“Is everything alright darling?” he asked, concerned._

_“Every...everything is fine.” Dawn faintly smiled. “I just need some air...some air should clear my mind.”_

_“Do you want me to go with you?” Elias questioned._

_“No it’s fine!” Dawn quickly answered. “Enjoy the performance, I’ll be back before you know it.”_

_Elias gave a slight smile to Dawn and she nodded with her own. Lifting herself from the seat, she started maneuvering around the crowds of people and started making her way to the exit_

_“The son of Lucious.” she whispered to herself._

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Elias woke up in bed with a disturbing silence around him. Lifting his head from the pillow, he sat up and looked straight ahead. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he took a deep breath and tried touching Dawn next to him. Upon trying to touch her however, he found himself only touching the sheets of the bed. Confused and slightly worried, he lifted himself from the bed and walked outside of the bedroom. Looking around in the main room, he didn’t find Dawn sitting on the chair reading, nor did he see her in the kitchen area fixing herself a late night snack. Turning his attention to the front door, he found that it was slightly ajar, not enough for an animal to squeeze through, but just enough for him to feel the nocturnal winds. For a moment Elias grew very worried for Dawn, wondering why she would be out this late at night, but he did at least have an idea of where she went. Returning back to the bedroom to grab a coat, Elias went rushing out the front door to find her._

_It took him around 10 minutes to arrive at the location he was headed for. He came into a clearing but he noticed that he came out worse for wear. Several times he tripped on the roots of trees and hit his face against loose branches, but he was fortunate to have not been attacked by any night predators because of his mastery of the fire element. After patting himself off, he looked straight ahead to see a lone green orb of light hovering above a woman before the lake._

_He smiled._

_Walking up to her, Dawn quickly turned around upon hearing the crunching of the grass and smiled before turning back towards the lake. Elias joined Dawn by her side and sat down as the wisp hovered joyfully over them. Elias placed an arm over Dawn and she gladly placed her head on his shoulder as the two of them watched the glistening lake._

_"What are you doing here at this hour darling?" Elias softly questioned._

_Dawn didn't immediately respond, instead she took a deep breath. Elias began rubbing her upper arm and shoulder in an effort to make her more comfortable._

_"I had an inkling that something was bothering you after the show, but you do hide your emotions pretty well." Elias slightly chuckled._

_"Yeah..." Dawn sighed. "I didn't want to bother or worry you."_

_"Dawn, we've been together for years." Elias replied, slightly insulted. "You can tell me anything."_

_"This is different." Dawn shot back. "This is about my family...about my father."_

_"Your father..." Elias repeated. "You never talk about him."_

_"Yes and I never told his name either." Dawn said._

_Pausing a moment before she continued, Dawn looked up at the wisp floating above them and shot it a sorrowful glance._

_"I'm sorry friend, but I'll have to send you home now...you shouldn't be around for this next part." Dawn stated._

_Understanding the situation, the wisp hovered still and accepted its return back to Fade as Dawn conjured up magic to make the trip easier for the it. Once the spirit was visibly gone, Dawn continued, this time shaking with emotion._

_"My father's name is Lucious Trevelyan." Dawn revealed._

_"Lucious Trevelyan?" Elias questioned. "Wait, so when your cousin, that bard back in town called the Inquisitor, the son of Lucious, that meant..."_

_"The Inquisitor is my baby brother." Dawn finished._

_Lifting herself from the ground while grabbing a huge pebble, Dawn returned her focus back to the lake. Closing her eyes and taking a quick deep breath, she soon opened them and angrily threw the rock into the lake._

_"Why didn't he tell me that I had another brother!?" she yelled. "Why didn't mother!?"_

_Elias said nothing. He wanted to give her the space to vent her emotions._

_"Out of all things, I found out through a ballad!? I mean I had heard that the Inquisitor was a Trevelyan but I couldn't have imagined he would've been my blood brother."_

_Elias lifted himself from the ground and embraced Dawn, trying to comfort her. She took comfort in the hug, but she was still angry and couldn't let go of her feelings towards her father._

_"Mother must've had some reason not to tell me." she reasoned. "Maybe father forced her not to, but I can't be sure."_

_"Well, what do you want to do?" Elias questioned._

_Dawn sighed for a moment and looked up into the starry, night sky._

_"If the rumors I heard about Aaron and Elaina are true...the Inquisitor may be the only sibling I have left."_

_"And you want to meet him." Elias added._

_Dawn simply nodded at Elias' comment. Placing a hand on her forehead, she started pacing back and forth._

_"And as much as I don't want to, I'll have to confront my father first. Get this whole story straightened out as best as I can before I start this journey." Dawn continued._

_"Would you like me to come with you?" Elias asked, holding her shoulder._

_"As much as I want you to, I think I should do this alone." Dawn said, pain striking her heart. "You've been with me when I needed you the most, but I wouldn't want you to get involved in this horrible family dynamic."_

_"I...understand." Elias nodded. "Is there anything you need? Anything I can do for you?"_

_"Just stand here with me." Dawn slightly smiled. "I only want to be with you before I leave tomorrow morning."_

**_"Of course." Elias smiled, placing an arm around Dawn's shoulder as the two of them watched the glistening lake for the last time in a long time._ **


	22. Chapter 22

The road leading up to Castle Trevelyan was bumpy and wet. Leo and Dawn sat in silence as the tension of approaching their childhood home increased, yet the hard raindrops falling upon the roof of the coach brought some measure of solace. Leo paid attention to the sneers of the horses pulling the coach while Dawn fiddled with her fingers. She wondered now that they were only a few minutes away from the front door that Leo regretted coming here, but he would occasionally reassure her of his decision by giving her a small, shy smile. A few more moments passed and the coach stopped, causing the horses to nay.

They had finally arrived.

The Inquisition soldiers guiding the coach stepped down from the reins and helped open the door for Leo and Dawn. Before stepping out of the carriage, the siblings placed hoods over their heads to keep themselves dry from the rain. As their boots touched the muddy ground, the two of them took a quick inhale of the rainy atmosphere and sighed.

“We’ll take it from here thank you.” Leo nodded to the soldiers. “Just stay back here.”

The soldiers bowed and assumed an at ease stance and the two siblings continued up the hill towards the front entrance. After a minute of walking, the two of them were met with yells and weapons aimed at them.

“Who approaches Castle Trevelyan?” the guard captain questioned.

Pulling their hoods down, Leo and Dawn made themselves noticed. Immediately, the guards that could see Leo bowed and placed their weapons down, but most of them couldn’t identify who Dawn was, all except the guard captain.

“Your worship...my lady.” the guard captain bowed.

“It’s great to see you again Sir Thalomy.” Leo bowed.

“What brings the two of you back home?” Sir Thalomy asked.

“The both of us...would like to speak to our father.” Dawn revealed.

Sir Thalomy looked over their shoulders for a moment, scanning his eyes across the Inquisition soldiers and other guardsmen, before nodding his head towards the front door of the castle.

“He may still be in his office, even though he should be asleep right now.” Sir Thalomy stated, guiding them to the entrance.

“Good.” Leo simply said. “I hope his ears and mind are just as awake as his body.”

The three of them continued their way towards the entrance of the castle as the loud, cackling noise of thunder surrounded the sky.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m glad to see the both of you well.” Sir Thalomy said, escorting the two through the front door. “It’s been years for you Leo and decades for you Dawn. How’s everything for the both of you?”

“Just getting by honestly.” Dawn started. “I’ve been on the move for a while these past few years trying to survive. Fortunately everything became a little easier after Divine Victoria disbanded the Circles. But besides that, I am a healer mage.”

“You’re a true fighter Dawn.” Sir Thalomy chuckled. “And you Leo?”

“Being in the Inquisition as the Inquisitor has been really rewarding. I’ve aided the organization in helping people all over Thedas, met some great friends and I’m genuinely happy with them.” he answered.

“And I’m happy for you son.” Sir Thalomy smiled.

The three of them started their walk up the giant stairs leading to the second floor of the Castle. Memories of rushing down the stairs for breakfast and dinner and going to play outside with their mother entered the minds of both Dawn and Leo and they lightly sighed. Once they finally arrived at the top of the stairs, they were presented with the long corridor that led to the main bedrooms and offices. It was dark and gloomy and honestly looked like it hadn’t been tended to for years with cobwebs sticking out of the corners of the ceiling and chipped bricks being present all throughout the hall. Grabbing a lamp from a table nearby the stairs, Sir Thalomy guided the two down the hallway. The silence walking down the corridor to Bann Trevelyan’s office was nerve wracking yet welcomed at the same time. Any minute now, Leo would be confronting his father for the first time in nearly three years and he had to be prepared as best as he could.

Once the three of them finally arrived at the office door, Sir Thalomy saluted them not wanting to make audible noise to prematurely let their father know that they had arrived. The siblings waved and silently thanked him as he left. Returning their attention back to the door, Leo bowed his head. Dawn grabbed his shoulder and as he looked at her, she gave him a reassuring smile. Returning with his own smile, he was given the confidence to finally open the door.

The door opened with a soft creak, soft enough that the man sitting at his desk looking at papers didn’t notice. The moonlight from the window behind him basically made him the only thing visible in the room and it almost brought an ominous aura to Dawn and Leo’s eyes. Dawn softly closed the door behind them once they were fully in the room and even then, the man didn’t seem to notice their presence. It wasn’t until they started approaching him as their shadows shrouded him did he acknowledge them.

“Who?” he questioned startled. “...Aurora and…Leonardo!”

Standing up from his seat as fast as his old bones allowed him to, he moved around to first hug Aurora. He tightly embraced her with both of his arms and although Dawn accepted the hug, she didn’t return the same tight embraced. Once he was finished embracing Dawn, he slowly moved towards Leo to do the same thing, but Leo coldly stepped away from his attempt. Bann Trevelyan didn’t want to escalate the already tense situation and accepted Leo’s wish.

“Hello my son.” Bann Trevelyan spoke. “It has been some time.”

“Yes, it has father.” Leo answered plainly. “Despite my attempt to throw an olive branch to you more than a year and a half ago after Aaron and Elaina died. You never responded.”

“I...yes I did not.” Bann Trevelyan sighed.

“And why is that father?” Leo questioned, the anger inside of him boiling. “They were your children, my brother and my sister!”

“I know my son, I know.” Bann Trevelyan quickly answered.

Lowering his head, Bann Trevelyan started strolling back to his desk. Leo and Dawn looked at each other for a brief moment, confused, as they watched him pull open a drawer from his desk and shuffle through the contents of it. After a moment, Bann Trevelyan returned to them holding a sealed envelope. Despite the darkness of the room, Leo recognized the golden Inquisition seal that kept the contents of the envelope hidden from the world.

“I didn’t open it.” he revealed. “By the time I received the letter, I had not quite learned what happened to them and I was still very angry with you which is why I didn’t open it. After I did hear of their deaths, my reasonings for not opening the letter had changed from anger to shame. Shame that Aaron and Eliana’s passings were the catalyst for me to see the truth of how I treated our family, but nonetheless, I couldn’t respond to you.”

“Your silence made the situation worse!” Leo cried.

Dawn heard the cracks of Leo’s voice and saw him shaking, as tears started falling from his eyes. He turned from his father’s gaze and looked to his left, looking directly into the darkness of the room. Dawn softly touched Leo's right shoulder, emphatically. After a few seconds, he finally turned to her and gave her a small nod of appreciation.

“Father, I know he feels.” Dawn joined in. “I felt the same when I was back in the Circle and the only time I heard from you was when mother died. His feelings are valid.”

“They are indeed.” Bann Trevelyan agreed. “To make such a horrible judgement call twice to my children was detrimental to my character to say the least. To be honest, I am surprised that Aurora managed to bring you back here. In fact, I never imagined I’d see you two ever again after she left.”

“It was tempting trust me.” Leo scoffed, wiping his tears away. “But I’m back for a reason beyond my own personal feelings.”

“What reason is that?” Bann Trevelyan asked, concerned.

Before continuing, Leo stopped himself and looked at his sister. She shot him an encouraging smile and with her support, he straightened his posture and confidently spoke.

“My time in the Inquisition and as the Inquisitor has taught me the importance of taking initiative, fighting for what you love and being the change you want to see in the world. Things I didn’t learn in my templar training. As much as I tried to tell myself that I didn’t care about our family anymore, my soul couldn’t handle the lie. In fact, I very recently learned that it wasn't the people I didn’t care for, it was what we represented and valued: status, reputation and pride. It was things like status and reputation that led to Dawn being ignored while she was in the Circle, why I never knew about her and why mother became so sick. It was the conditional pride that parents gave their children that led to Ilene dying by a monster for the Templar Order because she thought that was what would make her father proud. These values are cursed and in order for our family to survive the ever-changing world, we have to change for the better.”

“Wha...what do you propose our values change to?” Bann Trevelyan asked, intrigued.

Leo was surprised that his father was even listening this far into his revelation although he himself knew he would’ve said it with or without his father’s approval.

“I propose that we change our values to those of love, support, and hope.” Leo continued. “We will love our children and family unconditionally, we will support their positive and good endeavors and not force them to go down a lifepath they don’t desire and we will be a leading change for hope across all the land.”

Bann Trevelyan said nothing. No murmur, no sigh, nothing. Instead, he decided to move slowly towards his office window and look out of it towards the castle’s gardens. Neither Leo nor Dawn could pinpoint what he was thinking and it slightly concerned them, but they both knew that this mission of theirs wouldn’t and couldn’t be halted, not even by him.

“Dawn and I will push forward with this, with or without you.” Leo finished.

“I will need to be left alone with this...to think.” Bann Trevelyan softly spoke. “The both of you may use your old rooms to stay here as long as you need.”

The two of them stood in silence for a moment, not quite sure what this meant. At first, Leo found himself lowering his head, which initially Dawn took for disappointment, but a moment later her brother simply adjusted his posture and put on a disturbingly hurt grin. 

He then rushed out the door without saying a word.

Dawn stayed for a moment longer, watching the stoic man look out the window without any concern for who was still behind him. She stared out the office door, where Leo was already long gone and slightly frowned. 

**She finally left the room a few seconds later.**


	23. Epilogue

* * *

Standing next to each other in the back garden of Castle Trevelyan, Leo and Dawn looked down in silence. The only sound around the two of them was the early morning winds and chirping of birds. After Leo’s catharsis a few nights ago, he had spent most of his time in his old room barely coming out of it and asking anything from the servants save for meals. Today was different however, it was their mother’s birthday and he knew he had to make an appearance.

Dawn couldn’t help but feel that everything happening with him was her fault. Just a few weeks ago, Leo was living his greatest life with his friends and lover, but ever since she appeared in his life, it has been nothing but an emotional rollercoaster. Maybe it was best that she stayed out of his life she thought, maybe it...

“Dawn I…” Leo struggled to speak.

Dawn faced her younger brother with concern, but allowed him to collect his thoughts.

“I want you to know that I really appreciate you coming into my life.” Leo continued. “I know it was a struggle for you to try to come into it, fearing whatever consequences would come of it, but I’m glad that you did. After leaving here and the Conclave, I thought I had lost my family, but because of you I discovered that I didn’t lose everything. It took me some time to realize it, but you led me back to our family.”

Looking forward, Leo closed his eyes and let the wind blow through his hair.

“I will forever be grateful for you, sister.” he smiled.

Dawn was appalled by her brother’s revelation. It took her a moment to process it, but after she was able to, she returned the smile.

“As am I, brother.” she replied.

Shortly after, the two of them heard the crunching of leaves behind them and turned to spot their father approaching them with three bouquets of flowers. Approaching the two of them, he nodded and handed them each a bouquet. Saying a quick prayer to himself, Bann Trevelyan thanked the Maker and placed the flowers in the front of the headstone and urn.

“Happy Birthday my love.” he whispered.

“Happy Birthday mother.” Leo and Dawn said, placing their flowers down as well.

Taking a moment in the solace, the three of them watched as the pedals of the flowers danced in the wind. Leo struggled to look at Bann Trevelyan and he understood his reasonings, but it didn’t stop the Bann from speaking up after the moment was over.

“I am very happy that I am able to celebrate her life today with my children.” he spoke. “Despite, how I treated you  _ two _ , how I treated Aaron and Elaina, how I treated  _ her _ .”

Leo and Dawn didn’t respond. They simply listened.

“Maker, I truly didn’t deserve any of you and I wish I could go back and change it all but alas I cannot.” Bann Trevelyan continued. “What I can do now is move forward, with a new mindset, a new love, an unconditional love, for the both of you.”

Shortly after Bann Trevelyan finished, the crunching of leaves could be heard again behind them. This time, it was one of the castle servants holding a plume and large sheet of paper. The man approached them and bowed before each of them before speaking.

“The deed and holdings to Castle Trevelyan.” he spoke.

“Thank you.” Bann Trevelyan smiled, slowly turning to Dawn.

“What is this?” Dawn questioned, completely perplexed.

“I am passing my ruling bann position here at Castle Trevelyan and its ruling lands on to my eldest child; you Aurora.”

Dawn couldn’t believe her ears. Was this man really her father? The same man that did everything in his power to distance himself from her for 27 years? This very same man that was now handing her, a mage, the ruling power for their immediate family holdings. This had to be a trick right?

“I...I…” Dawn stumbled. “Why are you doing this?”

“I am getting old, my children.” he said. “I trust you to continue the leadership in our family Aurora.”

“Me, a mage?” Dawn questioned.

“Yes.” he confirmed. “And as my eldest child, my daughter.”

“I don’t know father.” Dawn responded, doubting herself. “I am no true leader, let alone capable of seeing that our land and people are taken care of and needs met.

“But you have a good heart.” Bann Trevelyan claimed, smiling. “The same one that your mother had. It will be enough.”

Dawn met her father’s gaze and returned his smile with one of her own. Taking the plume that the servant held, she placed the tip of it on the signature line and smoothly wrote her full name on it:  _ Aurora-Dawn Trevelyan _ .

“Do not worry my child.” Bann Trevelyan started. “I will be by your side helping you with adjusting into your new role...for as long as I can.”

With the deed signed, the servant made haste back to the castle and with that, ex-Bann Trevelyan turned to Leo.

“My youngest son.” he sighed. “I am sorry for my terrible actions as a parent. I know that becoming the Inquisitor has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to you, but I hope that you can find it in your heart to not forgive me, but give me the chance to make amends. I want us to be a family again.”

Leo looked at his father with a plain face. Neither Dawn nor their father could interpret what he was thinking and feeling, but it was way more complicated than that. In truth, the past days that he had spent in his room had been spent analyzing his entire life, not only what happened when he explained his grievances to his father. He remembered his entire purpose of coming back home and his advice his friends gave him. He really wanted this family to change.

“I really want us to heal father.” Leo finally spoke up. “Since we’ve last met, we’ve both grown into different people. I am no longer the child that tried to always obey your orders and impress you and you are no longer the strict, conservative father that you once were. I...love the people we have become since then and I want us to stay the people we are now. I still have my obligations to the world as The Inquisitor, but I would love to be a part of this family again and not feel ashamed.”

“And I welcome you with open arms, my son.” Bann Trevelyan said, a small tear flowing down his eye. “We will help lead the change we want to see in our family.”

Leo went up to his father and tightly embraced him. Opening his right arm, Bann Trevelyan invited Dawn to join in to which she happily joined in.

**The three of them stood there embracing each other, praying that their family future ahead was full of happiness, hope, and healing.**


End file.
